Unfamiliar Transpires
by BBbeaver
Summary: Max, Chase, Miceala and Alice had sacrificed themselves to save others, simple as that. They had thought that was the end of their story. They were wrong. Given a second chance at life in a world both familiar and unfamiliar, they must work to right the story they know and save the heroes in training from events and changes that should not be occurring.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** _There are so few animes that make me binge pretty much every season in such a short amount of time. It would have to be a pretty incredible piece of anime with wonderful characters, beautiful animation and intense action. And My Hero Academia did nothing short of deliver on all spectrums. It is an absolutely amazing show and I have no doubt believing it's one of the most popular anime's out right now. And with all the dynamics set in such believable and great ways, I found myself wondering something: What would happen if a group of people with knowledge of the shows and characters found themselves transported to the World of Heroes, a world that can adapt just as quickly to them as they can to it? I've noticed a distinct lack of these types of stories in the My Hero Academia section, which saddens me because personally, those kinds of stories are my favorite kind. Just the sheer idea of people from the regular world dealing in dimensions that they both know and don't know. The changes that occur. It's always a fascinating idea._

 _And I figured I'd throw my hat into the mix as well._

 _I don't own anything except the group of four about to be introduced. All characters and world ideas belong to Kohei Horikoshi and the My Hero Academia show and manga. If you enjoy and want me to continue, please Follow, Favorite and Review! And I do hope you enjoy!_

 **Prologue: A Rapid Change in Scenery**

From a very young age, we were always told one thing: Nothing was better then being a hero.

We saw it in the comics and on TV all the time; the praise and respect a hero gets and the overwhelming positivity they would receive from the public they cared about. And for the longest time, we were always told the most important lesson for all: you don't need powers to become a hero.

And that fit well with the world we lived in. Nobody had any special powers or world-changing abilities. We were just human. Plain and simple. And to be honest, we never expected to be anything more than that.

But fate had another plan for us. A plan weaved around us and the fate of an entirely different yet familier universe.

This is our story of how we became heroes.

 **Maxwell**

"No no no," Chase presisted from the right backseat of the car, his hands running through his dirty blonde hair in frustration. "You're all wrong on so many levels!" As everyone continued to chuckle around him, he pointed an accusatory finger at the shotgun seat of the car. "First of all, you left probably the most important story of all: World War Hulk! He almost destroyed a freaking continent with a single step when he was at his angriest! If that's not strength, I don't know what the hell is."

"I didn't forget it." Micaela quickly replied, turning in the shotgun seat to face Chase and whipping her long chocolate colored hair nearly in the eyes of Maxwell. "I just didn't mention it because of the obvious fact that that strength was because of outrageous amounts of anger. He just lost his wife, child and his whole planet and had pretty much reached the peak of absolute anger. That doesn't mean he's like that all the time, which means he doesn't have that strength all the time, which means he's the exact same strength as Solomon Grundy, except missing the undead quality. The way I see it, that makes it clear who exactly will win. Not the Hulk."

As Chase fumed in the back and began thinking of any kind of comeback to his disproven evidence, Maxwell made eye contact with Alice through the rear-view mirror and dramatically rolled his eyes. She smiled and appropiately responded with a mimed gun in her mouth, which got Maxwell to almost laugh out loud.

They both learned long ago that when Chase and Micaela got into debates, there wasn't anything that could be said to stop them. Heck, you could could tell them that you'd rig the lottery for them if they stopped and it wouldn't have done anything but start another argument about who should end the argument.

But that's how they had always been and actually how they all met in the first place.

Max Barnnel remembered how he started the fifth grade with a very scarce amount of friends (most would say none at all). Not very many people wanted to make friends with a quiet, nervous and nerdy ADHD student who frequently wore his older brothers larger hand-me-downs and didn't partake in loving the goriest movies known to mankind. And for a long time, he thought he knew why.

He was an outcast, outside the realm of normal that the boys in his grade had grown to fond of. They were into horror movies, cars, football. He was into cartoons, comic books, regular books and board games. He definitely didn't meld with any of them in any sense of the word. And he had honestly given up trying to find anyone to relate to within the school itself.

Then, in the sixth grade, like fate itself set to intervene, he tripped just outside the school library and stumbled right into the blonde nusicance and top track runner known to all as Chase Villa. That knock set them on bad terms at first, with Chase being outset and angry that he had knocked over all of his binders and Max being too quiet and shy to argue back, instead settling for vowing to never come in contact with him again.

But it was about near the end of the argument that Max had taken notice of the large amounts of Dragon Ball Z and Naruto drawings that had fluttered to the ground from Chase's binder.

Max started talking a mile a minute upon seeing that, spouting about how good the drawings were and how good the shows were and everything that was suddenly in his mind.

Chase, a little surprised at first with how fast the conversation turned, quickly recovered and started to go into more of how he drew and the animes that he enjoyed. And with that, the rest was history.

Max and Chase grew to be fast friends after that. They stuck by each other all the way through High School, where they quickly crossed paths with both Alice and Micaela, who were also hardcore geeks at heart. They started hanging out together through Marvel movies, Fullmetal Alchemist, Game of Thrones and My Hero Academia. And you could say their friendship was a set and surfire thing from there.

Speaking of animes...

"Alright," Max said, holding up one of his hands from the steering wheel. "I see both your points and have come to the unanimous decision that..." Both Chase and Micaela looked to him, there eyes telling him in all kinds of ways that he had better side with one of them. "...none of this matters, All Might from My Hero would kick both of their asses in a heartbeat."

"Max, you bastard!" Chase yelled out. "All these years and all this friendship repritore... and not only do you turn away when I need you most... you drop All Might into this." He mimed a dagger piercing his heart.

"If this was your plan to get us to stop arguing," Miceala said with a smirk. "I'm not seeing how it's working. By the way, Solomon Grundy would totally kick All Might's ass."

"Same with the Hulk!" Chase said. "Kicking All Might around, I mean."

"Are you sure about that?" Alice asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Chase argued. "The Hulk stood up to Thanos, the biggest and baddest of the Marvel Universe, and traded blows with him!"

"Solomon Grundy matched up with Green Lantern and Superman, two of the most powerful heroes in the DCU, and threw them around like they were ragdolls!" Miceala added.

"And All Might matched, fought through and actually beat All for One, the biggest boss in the show and probably the most powerful villain power wise." Alice retorted. "Honestly, I think Max is right in that All Might would kick some serious ass."

 _Thank you, Alice,_ Max thought to himself as the arguements intensified behind him. _Turn their attention on my argument and give them a common enemy._ He expected nothing less. Alice had always matched him when it came to planning. It was almost they were on the exact same spectrum of thinking at times, which was the solid catalyst into them becoming fast friends.

They were all seventeen years old and on their last year of High School, which they were all more than ready for. They all agreed that High School was serious hell, with every ounce of drama being seemingly being expanded into the largest thing in the world and every class pretty much enveloping them with stress and work.

They had finally survived long enough to hit Christmas break and properly celebrate the fact that they only had about four or five more months to go until their freedom. And they had all planned to celebrate in style.

Salinas Valley Comic-Con was in swing up near Central California and all four agreed that there was no better way to celebrate then with about a thousand other geeks just like them. With Max being the only one with access to a car, they had elected him to drive (which was fine with him as long as they chipped in for gas) and they were off.

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. They were only about an hour out from Salinas Valley and him and his friends were currently in full geeky swing. It seemed perfect... except for the fact that for the last couple of minutes, traffic had been less then ideal.

There was no slowing traffic, but there was a school bus that was always at his side and never seemed to keep in it's lane. It swerved every so often and just seemed to drive awkward. More awkward then any other driver Max had seen. But, as long as they didn't hit him, Max didn't see it at his problem.

He keyed back in on the car conversation, which had pulled greatly into the All Might fight.

"Grundy can be torn apart limb by limb and still manage to come back," Miceala stressed. "And one would need to actually beat him strength and constitution. And I seriously doubt that regular human All Might can compete with a zombie in those regards."

"BUT just because he's big doesn't mean he's crazy strong," Chase said with his impish smile. "I dare even say that All Might is WAY STRONGER then Solomon Grundy with all we've seem him do." He raised a finger. "Now, his strength versus the Hulk..."

"All Might literally socked a genetically engineered super-beast into space and beyond after landing three-hundred hits in less then a minute, Chase," Alice said. "I think he would be able to match Hulk easily."

"Sure, speed-wise. But outlasting him?" Chase leaned in towards Alice. "I'm pretty sure the Hulk has taken far worse then just three-hundred punches and one good sock. Heck, the guy has gone against probably the strongest of the Marvel Universe and has been thrown through god knows how many things in the past, yet he STILL finds a way to win. I think it's obvious Hulk could pretty much take and deal a lot of damage back."

"Good points, Chase," Max pipes up. "But still no. Hulk can take a lot, sure. But I doubt even he could take a Plus Ultra point-blank smash that pretty much rips through the body. Or a near full power smash that could level a section of the city. Or a United States of Smash blow that would, for all intensive purposes, atomize him."

"Underestimate him, you do." Chase replied in a flastsetto Yoda voice.

"Oh, does he?" Miceala asks, resting her head in her hands in a mocking manner. "Do tell."

"Oh, where to start?" He holds up a finger. "First of all, All Might has never had to deal with Gamma Radiation, which Hulk just exhumes if he ever-"

That's all Chase managed to get out before an explosion of sound rattled the windows of the car. Time seemed to slow down as Max instinctually turned to his right and towards the sound and the flash that followed in the corner of his vision. Horrid realization settled across him as he fully took in the sight in front of his eyes.

One of the bus's front wheels had violently blown in a mix of sparks and smoke, veering the large vehicle to it's left and towards Max's car and the middle of the highway itself. The bus driver was trying to seize control of the veering vehicle, but it was far too late for that.

Adrenaline coursed through every ounce of his body as he painfully clutched the steering wheel and turned with all of his strength, the screams and yells of his friends echoing in his ears alongside the skids of cars and cracking of glass. His side slammed into the middle port of the car as the vehicle skidded to the side, grating against the cement of the highway and clipping two cars who were also trying to halt themselves.

His car finally came to a screeching halt right in front of the veering bus, which topped to it's side with a massive crash and crunch of glass and metal as they collided against the highway. Black smoke poured from the front of the bus as flames began to lick the underside of the vehicle itself, shading the vehicles closest to the inferno in a red haze.

In a matter of seconds, the highway had become the closest thing to hell on Earth that Max could imagine.

But he couldn't dwell on that for long. He quickly turned to the passenger seat, his hand clutching on Miceala's shoulder. "Miceala? Miceala?! Are you alright?!"

A few silent and horrifying seconds passed before a cough from Miceala steadied Max's breathing.

"I'm okay," Miceala replied, her hand clutched upon a gushing scar across her forehead. "I'm okay."

Max let out a sigh of relief before turning to the backseat. "Chase! Alice!"

"Alive!" Chase replied. "We're alive!" He was leaning over towards Alice, checking over the brunette for any kind of injuries.

Chase's left arm had visible bleeding scars and Alice had bruises visible on her knees and arms, but otherwise both were okay, which lifted probably the biggest weight off of Max's chest. All of his friends were still alive. And he still had a chance to get them out safely.

"Can you all move?" Max asked. When they all nodded, Max wasted no time opening his door and jumping out. "Then we need to leave! Now!" He quickly made his way to the drivers side backseat, prying it open and cautiously pulling out Chase, who slightly groaned in response.

Miceala quickly followed suit, jumping to the passengers side backseat and extracting Alice, steadying her to her feet.

As Max prepared to tell his friends to start moving, he heard another flare of flames from behind him. He turned just in time to see the front of the bus become enveloped in fire, kicking more black smoke into the air and hazing the air in an ominous small of burning rubber and a thick red ozone.

Many kids were not hopping out of the upturned bus's windows, coughing and covered with cuts and bruises, but still alive. Many, but not all. People all around were trying their best to help (including the dazed bus driver), but the flames and smoke were too intense and the ever present threat of explosion was driving people away from the trapped kids. The situation was spiraling too fast to wait on any fire department. The kids needed help now.

Max felt his fists clench. Everything in his mind was telling him no. The fire was too intense. It had been too long. The bus was close to explosion by now. The whole situation was beyond him. But... was it? What was it that Chase had said to him all those years ago?

 _Your mind will always tell you no. Any kind of situation, it will always tell you you can't. But if you want to get over your shyness, let me give you some advice. If you want to accomplish, ignore that voice. And do everything in your power to get to your goal. You don't need your mind._

 _You just need your drive and instinct._

"Max!" Chase yelled to him, snapping him back to reality. He held a look and expression that said he knew exactly what Max was thinking. "I want to help them too! I do! But we can't do anything! We need to get out of here!"

"We have to go, Max!" Alice pleaded.

"It's too dangerous!" Miceala added.

A moment of indecision flicked through his mind. _They're_ _right,_ Max thought to himself. _I can't do anything. The way everything is, the best thing we can afford to do is wait for help._ He turned to begin guiding Chase and his friends as far away from the blaze as they could afford to go. _The best thing I can do is keep them safe and hope that the fire department arrives in-_

Then, it seemed everything in the world was silenced. Every sound or noise seemed to mute in the presence of a singular scream for help, a _child's_ scream, within the bus itself.

And that was the point that Max's body seemed to move on it's own.

He managed a quick mutter of "Miceala" as he shifted Chase from his shoulder to hers before taking off at a dead sprint towards the disaster, his shoes slamming into the cement and adrenaline coursing through every vein in his body.

His friends shouts to him were in the furthest part of his mind as he quickly arrived to the overturned underside of the bus and, with a leap, slammed into the topside of the burning bus.

His skin stung and blistered against the heated metal, but he didn't even fully register it as he took in a suck of air before leaping through the broken window of the vehicle and into the interior.

Max's eyes watered and burned through the heat, embers and smoke, but he continued to push. He shifted through the bus seats in determination, coursing towards the source of the cries. He wasn't immune to the situation around him, with pangs of fear and worry coursing through his ever active mind. But, even with the fear, he knew that he couldn't leave now. Not with kids in danger like this.

 _ **Afraid, but unwilling to relent when someone is in danger.**_

It felt like he had been in the bus for hours already. Sweat dripped across his forehead and nose. Every ounce of open skin seemed to be screaming in utter pain. But he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. Not until...

He came to a stop in front of three screaming kids, one girl and two boys. They were all peppered with bruises and cuts, their clothes very visibly torn. And they were terrified. They couldn't see anything. They couldn't breathe. They couldn't see a way out.

And Max couldn't leave them alone.

He quickly shot his arms forward and grabbed the girl and one of the boys. "Hey!" He called out to the final boy, who looked to him. "I'm here to help, but I can't guide you!" He rasped and coughed. "What's your name?"

The boy coughed and hiccuped through the smoke. "Alex."

"Okay, Alex! I know the way to the exit! I can get you out of here before the fire gets to us! All I need you to do is follow close behind me! That's all you need to do!" He coughed and wretched. "Can you do that, Alex?"

Alex, through the tears and coughs, nodded and quickly fell in line behind him, the kid's small shoes cracking against the broken glass and metal.

"Okay, we're going to move fast, so keep up!" Max quickly turned and rapidly made his way down the bus, Alex and the others in tow.

By this time, smoke had begun to rapidly course through the confines of the bus and restrict every space of the vehicle, clouding every ounce of free air. Max felt his breathing continuing to heavy and strain, alongside the kids. His lungs were screaming at him to stop, but he refused. If he stopped now, he knew he would never see the light of day again.

He continued to fight through the embers and smoke, pushing through the burns outside his body and inside. His body was his only drive through the ordeal, pushing him further and further through the scream of his mind. He had been held captive by his mind before. He wouldn't allow it again. Especially now.

After what seemed like an enternity of navigating through the smoke and heat of the bus, Max finally found relief as his gaze set on the broken window he had come in through. He had made it.

 _And just in time,_ He thought to himself, looking back towards the encroaching flames. "Alright, I'm going to boost you guys up and out of here! Alex, you first!"

"What do I do when I get out?!" Alex asked as Max started to boost him.

"Jump off the bus and get as far away as you can!"

"It's too far!" Alex argued. "I'll hurt myself if I jump that far!"

Max felt his lips purse. Alex wasn't wrong. The jump from the bus to the ground would have probably injured the kids. But, with the flames approaching and smoke thickening, he didn't see he had much of a choice. Just has he began to relay that to Alex, a voice spoke out from the bus.

"No, you won't!" Chase exclaimed, lowering his hand down to Max and the kids. "Not if I lower you down!"

He sat at the top of the bus, crouched over, arm extended and ready to haul the kids up. Blood was still visible on his arm, but the would itself was shrouded by Alice's blue sweater, which had been tied around the gash itself. Chase held no smile, but there was still that spark of calm in his eyes that brought a fresh breath of relief to Max's ragged and freaked out mind. Still, that didn't silence the worry.

"Chase, what are you doing here?! You're injured! Are you sure you can-?!"

"I'm in pain, yeah," Chase replied with a smile. "But that never stopped me through my track practices and I'll be damned if it stops me now!" He extended his arm as far as he could go. "If you can muster up the courage through all this to save these kids, then so can I, dammit! You're not going to upstage me, Max! Now let's get you all the hell out of here!"

 _ **Courageous and uplifting to all, even in the darkest of scenarios.**_

Max hesitated for a moment before firmly nodding. He boosted Alex up to Chase, who grabbed him and brought him up to the bus, all while keeping the attention of Alex fixed firmly on him with jokes and questions. Chase visibly winced and struggled through the process, but manged to power through it as he took Alex out of view for a moment.

As Max prepped the girl for his boost up, Chase came back into view.

"Whoa, I didn't know we had a princess on the bus," Chase started with a smile, earning a smile back from the girl before turning with a worried expression to his friend. "You're doing great, but we need to speed this up."

Max didn't need to ask for clarification from Chase. The bus had been burning for a while and steadily moving. By now, it was probably at the edge of the gas tank.

"I know!" Max quickly replied. "Here, take her and get back here as fast as you can!"

Chase nodded as he took the girl up. "Fast as I can!" He moved out of vision, but Max can still make out his shouting. "Miceala! Take her! Quick!"

 _Miceala is here too?!_ Max thought to himself. _Oh my God. If Miceala is here, then that means Alice is probably close as well._ He didn't know how to feel at that moment. On one hand, his friends were here and helping him, which gave him the biggest boost of all. On the other, his friends this close to the bus? He didn't like it. And he needed to get this done. Fast.

As he boosted the last child up to Chase, his longtime friend quickly moved him to the side and stretched out his hamd again.

"What are you doing, Chase?" Max asked. "Get him out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you down here any longer!" Chase replied. "We're all getting out of here now!"

Max processed that for a moment, looked to the fire massed in the front of the bus before nodding firmly. He agreed completely. He took a few steps back and leapt up, his hand slamming into Chase's. He let out a cry of pain with the strain on his arm, but he muscled through the agony and, with a roar, was able to pull Max to the top.

"And here I was thinking you were the lightest person of our group like a dumbass," Chase groaned before helping Max up and pushing both him and the kid forward. "Move!"

The heat had only intensified since Max had first went into the bus. Black smoke now fumed above them, blocking out any visibility of the Sun above. All around them, cars lay abandoned as people desperately tried to get out of range of any kind of explosion. The screams of sirens sounded through the chaos, but they still sounded a ways away. And quiet compared to the whistles of metal contorting to the heat. They didn't have any more time. They needed to leave.

The boy reached the edge of the bus first and stayed frozen there for a moment before Chase arrived.

"Alright, I'm going to throw you down to Miceala down there and she's going to help get you out of here! Are you ready?"

The boy nodded through his tears and Chase quickly picked him up. "Alright, one... two... three!"

With a mighty throw and wince, Chase threw the boy below, where the distant form of Miceala was waiting with outstretched arms.

She stumbled a bit as the kid made contact but she quickly recovered and placed him down on the ground.

"Okay, you're going to move forward and find and find a black-haired girl." Miceala explained, motioning forward. "She's going to take you to your friends and far away from here, so stick to her as soon as you see her, okay?"

The boy nodded in understanding and she moved him forward, where Alice was just returning from the distance.

"Come with me! It's going to be okay!" She urged as she took his hand and lead him away from the burning bus.

As they disappeared from sight, Miceala turned to Chase and Max. "Okay, we need to get out of here, now! If those are all the kids, then we need to get as far away as possible and wait for the proper authorities. Get down a little further so you don't get burned anymore then you already are, hop down from there and let's get going."

 ** _Tactical and caring, even through fear_**

"You go first, Chase," Max stressed to his friend as they made their way down the burning bus. "With your injuries, you need to get the hell out of here now."

"Like Hell I am," Chase replied. "You just spent ten minutes inside a burning bus. You're getting out of here first."

They had reached the end and Max turned to Chase. "No! You need to get out of here! If you don't get that arm checked out, it's going..."

That's when Max was cut off by the screeching crunch of metal and a boom that seemingly shot across the world. The bus violently shifted all at once, throwing both Max and Chase backwards and away from their escape.

Max felt his back slam into the twisted metal and there was an explosion of absolute pain as he slid across the bus and stopped near a jutting window piece. Fresh heat burned through his exposed back as gulped down air in an attempt to keep down his nausea, his hands grinding against the broken glass.

He wasn't able to see Chase at all, but he heard his groans of pain through the crackle of flames and the whistle of metal. Through the tears of pain and ache of his back, he felt himself begin to grind his teeth.

 _It can't let it end like this,_ Max thought to himself as he dragged himself up. _I need to get them out. I need to-_

He stopped as he heard the rhythmic click against the metal in the distance before coming to an abrupt stop.

"MAX! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

 _... Alice?_

Max felt his body pry itself from the mix of glass and metal with an eruption of pain. Everything told him to stop and rest. Everything would heal and the pain would cease if he would just stop and rest.

 _Not now,_ Max thought to himself. _Not ever again!_ "ALICE!"

The footsteps started again almost instantly. And they headed straight towards him. He felt hands grab onto his arms and pull him to his feet. His vision cleared and he saw the worried face of Alice, her skin smeared in a mix of soot and bruises from the initial crash.

"Thank God!" She pulled him close and began to run the length of the bus towards their escape. "Miceala is going after Chase! We're meeting them near the edge of the bus and we're all getting out of here!"

"Alice," Max muttered, half-delerious from pain. "We've taken up too much time already. You should have..."

"I'm not leaving any of you," Alice aggressively retorted, looking back at him. "Ethier we all leave together or we don't leave at all. And that's final."

 _ **Unwilling to leave friends and allies, no matter the cost.**_

Time seemed to speed by as Alice dragged him along. One moment, Max could register being nowhere except near fire. The next, he was at the edge of the bus, Miceala near them and Chase on her shoulder.

Chase looked worse then ever before. Blood now caked his hair and a scar had been torn across the underside of his right eye. He looked to be on the edge of counciousness and sanity itself.

"Alice!" Miceala shouted. "We jump now!"

 ** _Brave, all of them. The traits of heroes strong in all of them._**

Alice and Miceala's shoes cracked against the cement as they leapt, cries showing just how painful the landing had been. The jostle was enough to flare the pain on Max's back. But, through all of this, both Miceala and Alice kept pushing, shoving through the heat and thickness of the smoke.

 ** _They all deserved life for braving a disaster on this scale._**

But, even as Alice and Miceala began to put distance between them and the bus, a high pitches boiling whistle rang through Max's ears. One that greatly increased as the seconds ticked on.

 ** _They did not deserve this._**

 _No,_ Max thought to himself, tears of both pain and realization taking form in his eyes. _It's too late._

 _ **They did not deserve pain.**_

The whistle faltered as the flames engrossed the last of the bus's gas tank, igniting it in a titanic explosion that engulfed the entire area.

 ** _They did not deserve death._**

Nobody had any time to react. The fire washed over them in an instant, cutting through cloth and flesh.

Pain and sadness were among the last feelings that Max among many others. But regret? Regret was not one of them. They had saved the kids from a painful death. And if he had to bear it instead...

 _So be it._ He thought as darkness faded over his eyes and he felt the last of his breath leave his body, his soul lifting from his burned body.

 ** _And Death doesent deserve them. And it will not have them. Not here. And not now._**

* * *

Max felt himself floating, air pushing against his back and chest. His back was no longer rigid with absolute pain. It was almost as if his back injury had never happened. In fact, it seemed like every injury he had obtained throughout the course of the disaster had dissapeared. He felt no pain.

And as he floated, he registered flashes of visions around him. Scenes that were both familier yet... unfamilier. In the visions, he recognized the towering buildings of Japan, proud and unique. The spanning streets that were filled with cars, stoplights and signs as they stood to guide thousands through the city on a daily basis.

But there was no hope in these visions. In these visions, Japan _burned._ Large snaking smoke stacks shadowed behind the buildings, the only thing visible through the red haze and embers prevelent in the air. Cars lay smashed and ruined across every inch of street, some dipping into the massive craters that had been punched through the concrete.

Scorched skeletal remains decorated the length of the sidewalks, all we beyond recognition. The store fronts had windows shattered and doors punched in. Some buildings had callapsed in on themselves, while others had been blown away in their entirety.

It was like the apocalypse had come to the city itself. And Max had a front seat view to it.

Before he could question any further, he found himself on top of a crumbling building, surrounded by fire. There, a group had amassed in a circle, comprising of many strange-looking menaces, including a man with an eye instead of a head, a woman laced in what looked like barbed wire, a reptillian like creature with thousands of limbs jutting from it's back, a black wisp of smoke in a well tailored suit that...

Max stopped. _A wisp of smoke? A well tailored suit?_ His mind raced as his eyes scanned the individual, locking onto the merciless yellow eyes and the constant warp he seemed to be in.

 _No... it can't be... Kurogiri?! From My Hero Academia?! But... he's not real. He's not a real person!_

Yet there he stood, as flesh and blood as an actual living breathing person.

 _If he's real... then..._

"Well fought, hero."

A single sinister voice seemed to cut through the lines of the villains, parting them enough to reveal a mask that Max had seen and discussed countless times before... but never once thought he would see in front of him. The mountain of a man also wore a well-tailored suit, but it wore no visible wear and tear as Kurogiri's had.

This man didn't have a scratch on him. And he carried himself in such a way that spoke volumes about who was truly in charge of the group. His hands world on the arms of the suit as he walked, showing a precision need to present himself in front of his goons. He showed no expression. Even if he did, it wouldn't have been seen as his face was protected by a black life-support helmet that hid the malice that no doubt glowed within his eyes.

Even being seemingly unseen and unheard by the villains themselves, Max still felt an ice cold grip on his heart, pulling at it with such intensity, he siezed up in fear. The most powerful of them all, discussed thousands of times by Max and his friends in the past without fear. Now... he regretted every joke he had at the villain not being intimidating. He knew nothing of fear then. He knew it now that he had seen him.

 _All-for-One._

"You've managed to defeat a great many of my top men and continue your fight to the point of cracking through a fair amount of our strike teams." All-for-One coldly chuckled as he approached the center of the circle. "It's impressive, your willpower. You've lost every single thing and person that you cared about in this world. Watched countless heroes mightier then you go against us and fail... and yet you still fight."

Max could only watch as the man swept aside his goons and bored down on a struggling form, clad in a green uniform that matched and gleamed against his green hair and eyes. He looked exhausted and bloodied, his clothes torn and shredded to reveal deep bleeding scars etched into his skin.

Tears glistened down his bloody cheeks, dripping onto the crack ground and landing near his scorched boots. He looked ready to drop at a moment's notice.

Yet, he still stood, green lightning crackling around his body, his fist clenched and glowing, and his teeth gritted in what almost looked like what used to be a smile warped into a look of fury.

Max recognized and knew him in less then a second. And it was like everything he thought he knew had vanished. It was him. One of the most recognized anime heroes now next to the likes of Goku and Naruto. In the flesh and on the breaking point.

"You've impressed me on every sense and aspect," All-for-One continued. "And that is not a compliment I give easily, Izuku Midoriya."

"... All Might never gave up," Izuku replied through his gritted teeth and pure emotion. "Even when everything was against him, when all hope was lost, he never gave up." He clenched his fists tighter. "That's what made him the Number One Hero: He would never quit, even when he was outnumbered forty-to-one. He trusted me with One-For-All! He gave it to me to make me his successor!"

There was an explosion of green electricity and energy from Izuku, causing all the villains except All-For-One to flinch.

"And how can I call myself a successor to All Might if I give up and let you walk away!" He looked up to the villain, his eyes shining bright green with power. "For all the innocent people you killed... for all my friends! For IDA! For URARAKA! For my MOM! FOR ALL MIGHT! I WON'T STOP FIGHTING TILL YOUR STOPPED, ALL-FOR-ONE!"

All-For-One remained silent for a moment. "Courageous indeed." He looked to his goons. "Don't let up until he's down." He raised his arm, his suit swelling and protruding, preparing for his next attack. "We stop these so-called heroes here and now, once and for all. With the death of All Might's apprentice."

At that, all the villains swelled forward at once, their powers and weapons powering up to full as they flanked Izuku with full intent to kill.

As Max watched on in horror, as the vision began to fade, as the villains closed in, Midoriya funneled all of his energy to his right fist and jumped forward, his expression warping into a smile.

 _"I'm want to save people with a smile on my face, just like you!"_

"DELEWARE! SMASH!"

As a mighty explosion enveloped the entirety of the building, the vision fully faded.

* * *

Darkness overtook Max for a moment before white came into view. He took in that he was in an infinitely white location, glowing brighter then anything he had experienced before. There was nothing around him, nothing in front of him. He was floating in an empty void.

His hands instinctually shot to his back and chest, looking for any signs of scars or scabs. To his absolute shock, there was nothing. No scars. No burns. Not even a bump. His clothes looked good as new, not a single scorch mark or smear. It was like absolutely nothing had happened to him.

"Is this heaven?" He asked aloud. "Am I dead?"

 ** _Yes. And no._**

Max jumped at a resounding voice echoed throughout his head. He turned and found himself staring at a shining figure. No facial features, no clothes, no body features, nothing. It was like pure light embodied a human form.

"Who are you?!"

 _ **I have never had need for a name in this place, nor in any aspect of life. But if you're looking for identification for me, simply call me Foresight. I am a simple observer, a watcher of events that transpire on one of many worlds.**_

"What happened to me?!"

 _ **I have secured you from the grasp of death and taken you outside of it's boundaries for the time being. You still very much exist, but you are no longer physically anchored to your birth universe or it's laws.**_ Foresight motioned to him floating. _**Including gravity.**_

 _Physically attached to the universe?_ Max wondered, his mind in absolute shock. _He ripped me away from the laws of physics? How? Why?_ He looked below himself, his legs dangling wildly with nothing physical to land on, but with no signs of him beginning to fall. He just floated. _Where the hell am I?_

"If I'm not dead, where am I? Limbo?" He asked with a little fear.

 ** _No. This place bears a physical resemblance to what your mind knows as Limbo, but it is not._** Foresight outstretched his arms in a presenting form. _**You are nowhere, Maxwell Barnnel.**_ ** _And everywhere._**

"Enough! Please just give me a solid answer before I freak out!"

 ** _Very well. You are currently in the space between universes, the veil that separates each universe from one another. It is both the largest and smallest area within dimensions, dependent on your point of view_**

A myriad of emotions coursed throughout Max's body as he processed what he had just been told. He was... outside of the universe? HIS universe?

He suddenly felt very isolated as he took in the sight. He was far and away from everything familier, everything he had known.

 _This has to be a dream. A really really REALLY messed up dream. Wake up wake up WAKE_ UP.

Max slapped his hand against his cheek in an attempt to wake himself up. But, to his horror, he wasn't waking up. And he felt no pain.

"Why can't I feel anything?"

 _ **You have no pain receptors, Maxwell. The body that you have now is one I constructed to house your soul within. It was built with the purpose of mentally stabilizing you enough for calm discussion, not replacement of your previous body. You feel nothing, excrete nothing, need nothing. Your vision is, however dulled. As well as your hearing.**_

"Oh, a second body? Is that all you did? Well... that's..." That was all Max could bear. He felt himself heave, trying to vomit something, ANYTHING out of his body to rid himself of the white ball of emotion that sat at the bottom of his fake stomach of disbelief, shock and overwhelming sadness.

 _ **You excrete nothing.**_ Foresight repeated as he heaved again.

"I heard you the first time!" Max yelled. "Just give me a minute! I need some time!" Max remained silent for a moment, taking in everything he could before coming to a stand. "Why... Am... I...Here? Why... Me?"

Foresight stepped near him. _**You are here to correct a fate that has been greatly distorted and corrupted. We chose you out of millions as, after examining you for quite a while, we believe you are one of the prime candidates to fix the wrongs that have been commited and remain unswayed by any other factors.**_

"Correct a fate?" Max asked incrediously. "What fate? What's been distorted enough that-" Max stopped mid-word. His mind flashed back to the visions he had recieved. Of Japan on fire. Of All-For-One. Of Midoriya's last stand. "Midoriya's fate..."

 _ **He is a well known individual in your universe.**_ Foresight said quietly. _**Every accomplishment he makes, every battle that was forged, every person he helped save. All well known by millions in your world. You've seen the pinnacle of a hero with the true intent of saving lives because he wished. It is unfortunate that you had to be shown his end in such a way.**_

 _His end?_ Max thought. _No. That can't be how it all ends._ "You said there was distortion of fate. That something got corrupted and changed it all. So that means that's not Izuku's true end!"

 _ **It is the true end fate has destined for him now.**_

"How?! How did it all change?!"

 _ **Interlopers. Pieces that had not been there before have shifted into place and have altered the course of fate. We are unsure how.**_

"You can't fix this?! Halt them?! Save all these people?!"

 _ **If we had that power, we would. But there have been many laws put in place to prevent us from interfering with the physical world. With all of our power, there comes a cost. I was tasked with watching their world, not warping it. The only reason I was able to extract YOU as I did is because I am not restricted to certain rules in your universe as opposed to my own. Even then, it took most of my power to do so.**_

 _ **You are an exception. A piece from another game with other rules that can be played to mine. You can be dropped into this world. You know the map of this history. The people that effect it all. You can right these wrongs. You can put fate back on course. You can halt the interlopers.**_

 _ **All you have to do is accept.**_

Max took a deep breath and tried to process it all once more. It was all too much. So much to take in. He was tasked with entering a world he thought was fictional, with powers beyond his wildest dreams, in order to help them stop total destruction and massacre.

Pressure and panic built up inside of him, exploding across his senses. He didn't know what to think. His parents were-

 _Oh My God!_

"My family! My friends!" Max shouted to Foresight suddenly. "Do they know what's happening?! Where I'm going?"

Foresight looked away for a moment, then back at him.

 _ **You were found among the wreckage of the bus, alongside your friends. Your body has already been laid to rest. Your family will grieve and mourn, but slowly adapt. They will come out of this stronger then ever before.**_

Grief slammed into Max's body like a train slamming into his chest. His eyes begin to well in tears, his thoughts instinctually tearing through every memory he had with them.

His Mom.

His Dad.

His Sister.

Chase.

Miceala.

Alice.

All gone.

 _ **Know that if I had the power to save you and prevent your death, Maxwell Barnnel, I would not have hesitated. You did not deserve it for what you did. And you deserved to live your full life.**_

Max felt his fists clench painfully as red hot tears coursed down his cheeks. Everything and everyone he knew was gone. There was nothing left. "I'm alone."

 _ **Not entirely, Maxwell Barnnel.**_

Max looked to Foresight, grief still in his expression. "What do you mean?"

 _ **You were not the only one I extracted from your universe. The three that were with you also had tremendous potential in helping achieve our goal. Therefore, I also siezed them from the jaws of death and brought them.**_

Max instantly felt like his heart jumpstarted in it's entirety. He wasn't alone! His friends had travelled with him. They were here! They were safe!

"Are they awake? Where are they? Can you bring them here?"

 _ **Do not worry. They are all three safe, awake, and doing well. Unfortunately, due to the power I exerted, I haven't been able to communicate the situation as well with them as I have you.**_

 _ **They all exist in different points in the viel and are purposely kept separate. To bring you all together now would invite a lot of energy in a place that is supposed to have none.**_

 _ **They've come to the realization of their situation and they are all taking time to deal with it the best that they can. However, they are unaware of the full extent of the situation and only one other has seen the vision of the hero's last stand. I leave it in the hands of the two of you who know to spread on your knowledge to the others. If you accept the mission handed to you.**_

Max, through the relief of knowing his friends were with him, felt his mind fix on the burning facts and the question: He had been torn away from everything he knew to save a world and everything they knew. He was due to die in his world, apparently, but he was being given a second chance in the world of My Hero Academia, alongside his friends. They were tasked with saving Midoriya and all of Class 1-A from an event or disturbance that changed everything. And they were the only ones that would know or could act on it.

It was a big task. Some would say an impossible one if intervening in fate was as hard as every tv show involving time travel had shown. He felt like an ant that had been asked to move a house.

 _Do not feel intimidated, Maxwell Barnnel. Foresight said, making Max jump. **You and your friends were not chosen on statistic merit alone. Your actions were the factor that we had looked for.**_

 ** _During that disaster, you did not hesitate to charge forward and help save those children from a burning death. In that moment, you cared not for your own safety or health. You cared only for the safety of the kids. And you did not stop until they were safe._**

 ** _When Chase Villa ran forward to assist you, he kept morale up, a sense of safety present and humor about him. He helped calm the situation and keep all from panicking._**

 ** _With Miceala Morgan, she was able to solidify a plan through the circumstances and guide all of you to a simple plan that simplified the matter while remaining tactical and aware of strength and weaknesses._**

 ** _With Alice Amor, she remained strong on the point of not leaving a friend or an ally behind. She stuck and never left the bus_** ** _until every one of her friends was safe and secure. She's loyal beyond the meaning of the word._**

 ** _All of you have shown the traits of true heroes. And with your personalities, drive and courage, we have little doubt that you will flourish in our world and save many people from death._**

Max took a moment, letting the words for Foresight settle over him fully before standing up.

"I'll do it." He clenched his fists and looked straight towards the being. "If you're giving me the chance to save all these people from what I saw in these visions, to stop what can only be called pure evil... I'm sure as Hell not saying no. Not anymore."

Foresight nodded to him. _Your friends also shared the same thoughts. Honor and courage is present in all of you._ He outstretched his hand. **_This is why death did not deserve any of you. Life deserves you more. This world needs you all._**

"... How do I go about joining your world?" Max asked. "You said my body was gone. This one I have is a fake. What's the plan?"

 _To give you a life that was lost to a family. Before Max could ask for elaboration, Foresight gave it to him with a raise of his hand and a flash of energy, creating a screen that showed four individuals sitting on a train: two boys and two girls, each keeping themselves busy through their phones and devices, not making eye contact. **These four had high hopes in life. They had applied to UA, ready to learn and aspire from it. But, due to personal circumstances, each of them decided to leave on this train, forgoing their chance at greatness in order to leave.**_

 ** _Unfortunately, they would never get the chance again. While waiting at a subway station, one of the vehicles cracked off it's tracks and clipped an entire group of people, injuring many and killing the four of them. They're aspirations and chances died with them, robbing UA of potential heroes. And their families and friends were left to deal with what could have been as opposed to what should have been._**

Foresight looked to Max. **_But you will renew their aspirations and continue their legacy. You will each be casted into the bodies seconds after their deaths and take your place within the world. And you will upkeep their potential and spread their names into the history books as the heroes they and you were meant to be._**

Max nodded. "Spare their parents the grief and give their image the respect it deserves. All while stopping the bad guys from winning." He nodded again. "Their quirks?"

 ** _I am unsure. Quirks are still new aspects to us who watch. And it is still challenging to lock onto which person has what power. You will have to find that out of your own power._**

 _Okay. That's something I'll need to keep in mind._ Max let an outtake of breath before looking at Foresight. "Alright. Tell me all you can about their histories."

From that point, Max spent what felt like hours talking to Foresight in regards to each of the four heroes. Their family, their intentions, their reasons for wanting to become a hero, everything. If him and his friends were being thrown into this world as these people, he had to make sure he had every piece of information down pat.

It was like a _60 Days In_ scenario to Max, trying to memorize everything the best that he could so that it all didn't fall apart upon questioning. Finally, after repeating attributes of his hero back and forth within his head so much he was pretty certain he could write a song, he steeled his nerves and turned to Foresight.

"I'm ready."

 _ **As are your friends.**_

Foresight raised his hand towards Max. A string of pure energy rushed forward from the entity's hand and slammed into Max, knocking the wind out him as well as sending mini-shockwaves through his body.

 _ **Once I send you to my world, Maxwell Barnnel,**_ Foresight reminded. _**I can not assist you any longer, as you will have been anchored to it and subject to the laws that bar my kind. You will only get one shot. I will not be able to save you from death again.**_

"I understand!" Max replied through the warbles of energy.

 _ **Keep your true name and intentions a secret from any ally. The fate of those who would decree something as maniacal as this sounds is not pleasent in any regard.**_

"Got it! Thank you, Foresight! For everything!"

If a light entity could smile, Max felt Foresight was doing just that.

 _ **Good luck, Maxwell Barnnel and friends, in saving this world from an undeserved fate.**_

With that, the energy calloused around Max's body and, with a speed he never could have imagined, rocketed him forward. The white room and Foresight vanished in a blast of speed as the light of the energy grew brighter and brighter, absorbing Max's full vision and mind.

* * *

"Oh my God!"

"What happened?!"

"It just bursted into flames!"

"Destroyed everything!"

"Put out the fires! Now!"

"Check on those kids!"

"Kid! KID! Are you awake?!"

Max was suddenly aware of the fact that a pair of strong hands was shaking him violently, trying to stir him awake. His eyes fluttered open and instantly winced at the bright light shining in his face. His entire side burned and throbbed in pain, as well as his back. He felt his hands grasp at his clothes, noting the tears within the cloth itself.

It seemed like he was back where the bus had caught fire. He had the same injuries, same amount of damage and people around him working to stop the flames.

 _Was it all a dream?_ Max thought as he sat up, ignoring the throb in his back and the shocked questions of the man crouching beside him. _Did I really manage to survive that explosion? Is everything back to normal?_

But, just before he opened his mouth to reply, the question that the man asked next stopped him in his tracks.

"Man kid, I don't know what your quirk is, but even with it, you're damn lucky to be alive."

 _Quirk?!_

Max's eyes shot open, seemingly adjusting to the light in an instant. He was suddenly very aware that the man presiding over him had a pair of antenna jutting out of his forehead. As he slightly stumbled back from shock, his eyes landed on his clothes. They were torn, just as they had been before. But his shirt was now completely different, shaded in a dark design with a shadow design of All Might against it.

His hands were scarred and calloused, showing years of combat expertise that he knew for sure he had never gotten before. And he now wore a backpack, stacked to the brim with books and notebooks.

As everything slowly began to return to him, he reached into his pocket and made contact with a solid plastic card. He pulled it out and raised to the light, recognizing the golden gleam of the UA sigil to the side and the familier face of Hideo Endo, the fourteen year old boy with brown curly hair and tall height that Foresight had spent so much time explaining every detail of his life to Max.

He now held his ID... as well as his face. He was now Hideo Endo. And he was in the world of My Hero Academia.

 **Next Chapter:** _Now present in the world of heroes, Max and his friends must now adjust. With the UA Acceptance Exams looming, they must get used to their quirks and new lives quickly. But, with new laws, powers present and people once thought to be only fiction, getting used to their new home will be easier said then done._


	2. A Step into Revelation

**Author's Note:** _It's amazing to me how much the MHA fandom has expanded in the last couple of months. Statues, fan art, video games, cosplays everywhere! I'm really happy to see this series get so much love! And I am very excited to keep this story rolling forward with all this inspiration around me! If you enjoy, please follow favorite and review! Here we go!_

 **Chapter One: A Step into Revelation**

 **Alice**

Everything seemed to go by like a dream;

 _ **You are a loyal ally and friend, Alice Adams. Unfaltering and uncompromising when it comes to the welfare and protection of those you care about. You carry within you the loyalty and compassion of a hero.**_

 _ **And you will be given the chance to help that potential grow.**_

 _Deku? Izuku Midoriya? He's... a real person?_ A real fledgeling hero?!The person that her and her friends had geeked out about so many times and pitted against so many different people was real?! As real as she was?

 _He can't fight them! He can't beat them! He can't-_

 _ **You want to save him, do you not?**_

"Yes!" Alice knew she replied without hesitation.

 _ **Then allow me to give you that opportunity.**_

It was all a jumble in Alice's mind as she began to wake up, the memories (as best as she could call them) shooting across her thoughts at rapid speeds.

She became acutely aware of the fact that her back was against the cold of a wall and the smell of smoke and fire within her nose.

And of the fact that there were voices around her.

"...alive, thank God!"

"Bruised, but otherwise breathing. She's one lucky girl."

"I'm surprised anyone except A-Lister heroes could walk away from that."

A-Lister Heroes? She wondered as her thoughts finally began to knit together. Alice felt her eyes slowly begin to slide open, light burning against her blurry vision. Everyone around her was a blurry blob, indiscernible in her current state.

"She's waking up!" A rippling voice called out near her.

She groaned in pain, her body and nerves straining in agony as she forced herself up against the wall. She let out a sigh as she rubbed her eyes. "What happened?"

Her memories of the car crash present and the words almost like a dream to her, she expected to hear how she was pulled out of the rescue and how her parents were on the way and probably on the verge of a mental breakdown that could be brought relief when they discover that she was alive.

That thought was quickly shattered with the response she heard; "The monorail derailed and cracked you and a few others. Luckily, all of you got away with only scrapes and bruises. Regardless of your quirks, you are very lucky to be alive."

All of Alice's thoughts perfectly coagulated into panic as her eyes fully snapped open at the absolute realization of his words. She had thought she hallucinated the words she had heard. Now she knows them to be nothing but truth. And her new reality.

And none of this was helped by the fact that the person talking to her was not a normal looking person, but rather a being that seemed to be made completely of hoses, his uniform decorated in the black and white pattern of a firefighter. One of his arms was already extended out towards the distant flames decorating the area around the massive futuristic train that jutted from the tunnel itself, spraying a whipping and molding stream of clear blue water into attack against the rising flames.

The other was extended out towards Alice, ready to provide aid at a moments notice, which would have been more comfortable to her if his red orb eye was the only thing staring back at him. He was trying to help, but at the moment Alice made eye contact, her mind had reached max panic.

And no amount of kindness could stop her freaking out.

She instinctively kicked out despite the throb of pain she felt, her black heeled shoes making instant contact with his leg. He let out a grunt of pain and stumbled as Alice quickly rose to a stand as the man in front of her raised his hand.

"Hold on! You're not-"

Whatever he had hoped to say was ignored by the pure terror and confusion running through Alice's mind. What about her family?! Her home?! Her life?! HER FRIENDS?!

Alice continued to thrash against the hero, quickly kicking and trying to make her way out of the station she had found herself in. The crowd of shell shocked and scared civilians pushed against her, trying to keep her calm and there.

"Hold on!"

"You're in shock!"

"Just let us help you!"

"Just let me out!" She felt herself cry as she pushed against a multitude of arms and people trying to keep her at a reclined position. "I need a minute! Just let me OUT!"

At her last cry, she felt a wave of pins and needles race across the palms of her hands and, to her shock, she watched as a purple colored energy built up around her hands, expanding and solidifying into what looked solid energy circles resting on her hands.

Her maxed out shock only being built upon by the energy shields, Alice instinctively lashed out, slamming a fair share of civilians with her Quirk and with resonating booms.

The circles were a lot more solid then she would have imagined.

Alice stumbled back as she tried to gain her bearings. "I'm sorry!" She cried out to the great number of people rubbing their heads. "I... I didn't know they were that flipping strong! I don't even know how I did that!"

"It's alright," The fire department individual reassured. "Just calm down. "

"...I just need a minute to breathe." Alice stressed. "I just..."

"She just needs a break to process everything." Alice turned to find a curly brown-haired boy making his way in front of her, facing towards the crowd. "We were all just clipped by the train. We're all on edge. She just needs a minute. Please, Backdraft."

 _What is this guy doing?_ She asked herself as she looked on. Alice also took note of the name he had said;

 _Backdraft_ , Alice thought to herself. Her mind instantly raced to the first chapter of My Hero Academia and the introductory stats of the hero. There was no denying weather her dreams were just dreams now.

Backdraft nodded towards the boy and began to usher people away, which gave Alice plenty of time to question the kid who had helped her and keep her mind off of the absolute panic in her mind.

"Why did you help me?" Alice said, which made the boy turn.

"You were in a pretty big situation," The boy retorted. "And you definitely needed it. Especially with all we're going through."

Even through all of her panic, Alice felt her chest swell with a bit of anger and frustration at that comment.

"No offense, guy," She replied. "But honestly, our current predicaments are on two completely different planets. We are not going through the same thing."

"Believe me," The boy answered back. "We definitely are."

Alice came to a shaky stand, ignoring the throb of her entire body. "You don't know what the heck you're talking about!" She yelled out loudly. "If you knew half the stuff I've gone through in the last ten minutes, you'd probably in just as much hysterics as-"

In visible worry of the noise she was making (which, to be honest, made her feel better at first), the brown-haired boy quickly approached and slapped his hand over her mouth, much to her shock.

The boy took a moment to seemingly make sure no one was around them before turning back to her.

"I know exactly what you're going through and there is absolute truth in that," The boy whispered. As Alice scowled and tried to yank his hand away so she could speak some VERY unkind words, he quickly followed up: "I know because I was in the exact car crash as you! It's me! Maxwell!"

The fight in Alice left her almost instantly, instead being immediately replaced with absolute shock and awe. A single thought couldn't spark in her head. Max was here as well? They were both actually in the My Hero Academia world?

What the hell was happening?

"I know I look different," Maxwell continued. "But please trust me. We can't say out loud where we're from. They'll think we're crazy and throw us both in the nuthouse. I understand all of this is hard to take in, but please. Don't scream."

Alice, far beyond any kind of shock at the situation, slowly nodded and watched as Max retracted his hand.

"This is going to take a while to explain, but right now, we should-"

He was cut off as Alice rushed forward and hugged him, much to the surprise of Max. Feelings of relief and absolute happiness filled the girl as she pulled away, a smile prevalent in her expression.

"I thought I was the only one here," She exclaimed. "And you were all gone. That was... terrifying."

Max smiled back at her. "Believe me, I'm glad to know that you're all with me too."

"What happened to you? Why do you look so different?"

"I'm not the only one," Maxwell replied, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody was listening. "I don't remember your hair with quite that color."

Alice's expression contorted into confusion and she reached up to her hair. To her shock, her hair was a mid-length pure silver color and she finally took notice of the fact that she was adorned in a red top and a grey skirt, the shirt marked with the words "Hayashi Records". All this time, she thought she was herself, presented in all of her bruised and burnt glory to this strange world.

She's not even herself, it turns out. She's someone different.

Someone different with powers.

 _Oh my God,_ She thought incredulously as she looked to her hands, remembering the glowing disc like energy she had wielded before. _I have superpowers. Holy crap, I'm living my childhood dream right now._

As she looked at her hands, Maxwell quickly regained her attention. "We'll all have time for a reality check. For right now, we need to get out of here looking sane. All you need to know right now is my name is Hideo Endo and, from what I know, your name is Airi Hayashi. Now, work with me here." With that, Maxwell stood and quickly took her arm, raising her up and turning back to both the crowd and Backdraft as Alice tried to steady her mind. "I think it's best I take her to a hospital. All this lashing out just a minute after getting smacked by a train doesn't seem like a coincidence."

"Of course," Backdraft replied, nodding to them. "If you would like us to transport her there, I'm sure Death Arms could-"

"Thank you for the offer," Alice said, taking her own initiative after slightly getting over her panic and surprising the heck out of Maxwell. "But I think we can manage. Lucky enough, my Quirk blocked a great deal of the damage done, so it's not as bad as it may seem." Alice had no idea if that was true or not, but it was what she was going with. "Thank you for your help, Backdraft. And I'm really sorry I attacked you the way I did."

"No apology needed, Ms Hayashi" Backdraft replied (which still felt strange to Alice to be addressed by a different name). "Shock has very warping effects on the mind. I understand you were not yourself. All I ask is that you recover quickly and in enough time for the exams tomorrow. We could always use one more hero in the world."

"Of course," Alice replied with a smile of her own. "And thank you all for everything."

As Maxwell and Alice turned away from the group, their eyes met, worry prevalent in both of them. The exams were tomorrow. They didn't have a solid grasp on their backstories, Quirks or even where this 'new' danger was coming from. They were injured, exhausted and had no idea what the situations of Miceala and Chase were. It was a bad start to say the least.

But it was still the start. And if there was one trait that all of them shared, it was that they didn't give in so easily.

 **Miceala**

Even with the words of what amounted to a God still fresh in her mind, Miceala still couldn't wrap her mind entirely around it. Sure there was always the idea of reincarnation, but she never imagined it could actually be true. Especially to this degree.

And as she hefted the unconscious body of a boy with straight and long blonde hair over her shoulder and made her way out of the etched stone that the overturned train had carved through, she still found herself not fully taking it in.

But looking around at the yellow and blue form of Death Arms, the voluptuous white and purple Mt Lady and even the young wood hero Kamui Woods, who were all in the midst of cleanup and recovery, and to the strange people in the crowd, she knew she had no choice but to take it in. And to keep playing her part.

"I found him!" She cried out as she softly placed the boy's bruised and battered body in front of Kamui, who quickly moved forward.

"Any visible blood?" Woods asked as he looked over him.

"Not that I could see," Miceala replied. "I found him near the cracked section over there. I don't know if he's just bruised or something, but I just wanted to make sure."

Kamui nodded to her and looked down at the boy. He was silent for a moment.

"... No broken bones or severe burns," Woods finally answered. "He's bruised, but otherwise unharmed."

Miceala released the breath that she had been holding. "That's good to hear." She was beyond relieved at the news. She would have hated for all of this to start with serious injuries for him. Now she just had to get him out.

But before she could even begin to think up the correct words to get them out of there, Kamui did it for her.

"Just in case, get him out of here and take him to the hospital. It's best that he get a second glance over by an actual doctor."

Miceala quickly nodded. "Of course. Good thinking. I'll get him there right now."

Kamui nodded before quickly making his way back to the wreckage with a throw of his spider-like branches. He continued to jump around between areas in an attempt to quickly clean and help those who needed it, which didn't surprise Miceala in the least. The way Kamui seemed in the manga and the show, he seemed like a pretty true hero through and through.

Besides, most of her surprise was already stolen the very moment she woke up nearly completely underneath the burning train, bruises and cuts galore. She was so in shock and out of it, she would have stumbled right back onto the tracks if it hadn't been for Kamui Woods.

He had snagged her away from the fall just in the nick of time and brought her to safety. And all the excitement snapped her back into a state of mind that could fully process what had just happened to her.

She was snagged away from her reality and apparently given a second chance in the My Hero Academia universe alongside her friends. They had to stop an impending bad event that would doom pretty much everyone here and they had to do it under the guise of others. It was a lot to process, but Miceala knew she had to find a way. Especially in this current situation.

Thankfully, she had retained most of the knowledge passed down to her by Foresight, including the new name she had inherited; Akari Madea. A young fourteen year old girl with short wavy chocolate hair, hazel eyes and pointed pretty features. She wasn't sure of Akari's Quirk, but knew as much that she didn't actively present it, especially in front of her parents...

Her parents...

Miceala felt a sharp cold completely pierce her heart as her thoughts shifted to her own family. One she would never again see. It was a sadness with no comparison.

But she had to steel herself. A breakdown then would have done nothing but bring attention to her and help her lose her sanity even further. She had to be the thinker here. For everyone's sake.

She quickly righted herself and began to play the part of a shell shocked girl (though it wasn't hard, seeing as how she was already pretty shell shocked) and eventually set the search for the friend she knew was closest to her. Foresight didn't tell her a lot, but from what he did tell her, her friends were close by. And she wasn't going to lose them again.

Miceala carefully took step after step up and away from the subway tunnel, the bruised and battered boy in tow. She looked behind her to make sure no one was in ear-shot before she looked to the boy, slightly shaking him.

"Chase?" She whispered out. "Chase? Come on, wake up. I need to know you're okay."

"...uggghhh?"

She sighed in relief. "Well, at least you're semi-conscious. It would have sucked to have your second chance vanish in an instant."

"...Where am I?"

"That's going to take a while to explain and for you to believe," Miceala answered as she scanned the crowd behind her. "Frankly, I'm still having trouble believing it myself. For now, we need to get you out of here and hopefully find-"

She stopped as her gaze set upon two people about as young as she was now, quickly making their own way up the steps. One was a brown-haired boy and the other a silver-haired girl. Both were examining their surroundings just as much as Miceala. And both looked eerily similar to what Foresight had shown her.

Could it be...?

Chase still slung over her back, Miceala made her way to the side as she ascended the steps, getting close to the duo. The silver-haired girl quickly took notice of her and nudged the boy beside her, who turned as well and quickly moved to intercept.

Smart.

"Don't worry about her," The boy quickly said, motioning to the bruised and battered girl. "Her Quirk took most of the damage. I'm on my way to take her to the hospital right now. If anyone needs help, it would probably be the folks down there. They need every person they can get!"

Convincing.

"Are you sure?" Miceala asked, looking towards the silver haired girl and playing up her part as much as she could. "She looks pretty beat up. I know one of the heroes in these parts. Maybe I can get-"

"No, really!" The boy answered quickly (a bit too quickly). "We can manage. There are a lot of people down there that can use assistance though. I have no doubt they could use someone like you if you have connections with heroes!"

He said it all with a genuine smile on his face, a look that seemed to coax her to go be a hero... far away from him.

Miceala nodded towards him. "Well, that's a good point to make, but maybe you should work on looking more genuine about it before trying to lie your way out of my attention." As the boy looked on in shock and was about to start another lie, she continued in a whisper as she quickly closed the distance between them: "Max, calm down. It's me."

His eyes instantly went from suspicion to shocked understanding.

"Miceala?"

"Yes," She confirmed. "And with Chase in tow."

Max stood flabbergasted for a moment, seemingly unsure how to react before he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"You don't know how good it is to see you."

"I can guess quite a bit, since I'm feeling exactly the same." Miceala said with a smile of her own before she was quickly and suddenly embraced by the silver-haired girl who she assumed had to be Alice. She quickly returned the hug, her mind feeling all kinds of calmness at the return of her best friend. Her family was gone. And that hurt. But at the very least, she had her friends alongside her. "It's good to see you too, Alice."

Alice pulled away from her with a smile and nearly brimming with tears before she laced one hand around her own neck and motioned to the scene around and behind her."Do you know what the heck is going on here?" She desperately asked. "And what the heck we do next? So much is happening and I just..." Her voice faltered, which she couldn't blame her for.

"I know." Max agreed. "It's crazy. Insane. Beyond any kind of imagination."

"It is," Miceala confirmed. "But it's our situation for right now. And now that we're all together, I say we get as far away as we can from all of this and find a private place to process. The heroes can help those who need it, but we don't need any more questioning towards us."

"Like where?" Alice asked as they made their way back up to the main road.

And that simple question stumped Miceala. They were here. They were together. Now what? They probably didn't have a lot of money and had no idea who it was they knew or didn't know. Miceala knew her (or should she say, Fumiko Madea's) friends and family pretty well, but none of them were close enough to provide any help. Plus, Miceala feared talking to them. One wrong word to any of Fumiko's friends or family and she would be thrown under suspicion almost immediately. They may not get exactly who she was at first, but with this being a world of superpowers, it wouldn't be a far stretch for them to think she was a body-snatching villain or something like that.

They would have to find another way to get a place.

And as Miceala ran ideas through her mind, trying to find the one to get their next idea, Alice spoke up.

"What about this?" She pulled what looked to be a plastic credit card out from her pocket, engraved with a blue and gold color. "I found it in my pocket just before we ran into each other. I think it's a room key to a hotel."

"Alice," Miceala said with a smile. "That is EXACTLY what we need right now. Which hotel?"

Alice squinted at the small cursive writing. "The Golden View." Alice replied with no small bit of confusion. "How are we supposed to find it?"

"This may not be our reality," Maxwell said as he pulled out a very high-tech smartphone. "But it still has working Internet and Google in it." It only took moments for him to find him. "Oh, perfect! It's about six or seven blocks down from here. You must have just been heading there when everything went down, Alice."

"Well, we have a location," Miceala said triumphantly as she led them up the steps and towards the rapidly filling Main Street (in which she tried her best to ignore the feeling of absolute amazement at the people she was seeing with powered up oddities across their body and the energy flowing through her own. It's like she never got hit by a train). "What's the plan from there?"

"We sort things out first of all." Alice suggested. "We try to process things, I hope."

"Yeah, we do." Maxwell agreed. "But we can't do that all day. We have until early tomorrow morning to find out about and get a good handle on these Quirks that we possess. Alice has a basic understanding of hers, but I know nothing about mine."

"Neither do I. And Chase has had no time at all." Miceala replied before turning full attention to Alice. "You found out your Quirk? What is it?"

The shy girl extended out her hand and, with a flick of her wrist, sent out a circle of pure energy that seemingly rested on her palm. It was blue in color and shimmered as if it was made out of the surface of the water.

"Creating these shields, I guess," Alice said as she made the disc vanish. "They seem to be pretty solid. Solid enough to knock someone upside the head at least. I haven't tried to block with them yet, but I feel like that's where they'll do the most."

"That's amazing," Miceala almost whispered. She may have known she was in a world full of superpowers, but it was still quite a shock to see it in action. "Does it strain your hands at all?"

"Only a little. It's like a little hand cramp then everything is good after that."

"Well, that's one discovered power down," Maxwell said as they neared the corner of the street, ignoring the passing glances of civilians towards them and their groaning cargo. "Three more to go. And we have until early tomorrow morning to find them out and get at least a basic understanding of them all."

"No pressure at all," Miceala replied as they all heard a familiar guffawing laughter behind them, rapidly making its way to the scene of the accident. "No pressure at all."

 **Chase**

It was all an overload of information for Chase. He'd never been much of an active listener, which was probably why he had less than stellar grades compared to his friends. But back then, it was just not caring about the information he was getting. Now, he was trying the best he could to retain everything that was being told to him... but to say it was unbelievable to him was an understatement.

"I thought it was all a dream," Chase said again, pressing the ice pack a little bit harder against his head wound as he spoke. "Speaking with that faceless person, talking about the world of My Hero Academia being real... it all had to be some weird delirious dream. It had to be."

They were all inside Alice's (or Airi's) hotel room, which was a single king-sized bed (which Chase was currently sitting on) outfitted with a flat-screen TV and a pretty nice bathroom. It wasn't big, but it was roomy enough for the group to sit and at least breathe about the situation at hand.

"I know it's insane," Maxwell replied, standing up from his lean against the wall. "But it's the truth and it's what's happening right now."

"It's happening right now, but it's still hard to believe," Chase almost snapped back, lowering the ice pack from his head. "I mean, our entire world? Our families? Our experiences? Our lives? All of it just gone?" He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "It's.. pretty freaking terrifying."

"It is," Miceala agreed. "It's all types of terrifying. But we can't just sit around and reminisce about our old lives now. This is our reality. And reality says we're on a very short time-table. It's noon right now and the UA Acceptance Exams start promptly at eight tomorrow morning. And the only one of us that has any knowledge on their Quirk is Alice. We need to figure things out fast."

 _Quirk?_ Chase thought, looking to his hands. _That's right. I have a Quirk now. I... actually have a superpower._ It was coming to him like slow painful impacts. Everything that was happening around him. The others had had time to process what was happening, while Chase was just receiving the blows. His mind moved slowly, trying to combat against the pain as the revelation of never seeing his family again and inhabiting a body that wasn't his own sunk deep within him.

"What about the Quirk database? Can we access that?"

"We already tried. Password protected. So unless you want to contact someone and ask for it…?"

"Chase," Maxwell said suddenly, placing his hand on Chase's shoulder and snapping him out of his trance. "I know this is a lot to take in. I mean, a lot. But we need you with us right now, man. We all need to stick together through this."

Chase looked to his longtime friend for a minute, thoughts shooting through his head about his life and everything that's been happening before he sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just a lot. Just..." He let out another sigh before he stood. "Okay. What's the plan?"

"First and foremost, we need to train." Miceala answered. "We need to discover and hone our Quirks fast or we don't stand a chance in the test tomorrow."

"Where would we be allowed to do that?" Maxwell asked. "As much as this world appreciates Quirks, I doubt they'll just let us try them in the streets. Especially when they get the hint that we're untrained."

As much as this world appreciates Quirks. Chase dwelled on Max's words for a moment before speaking "Wait. If this world is tailored to eighty percent of the population having powers, shouldn't that mean that they would have to have somewhere to train with your powers besides a school? There has to be some cases of people wanting to better their powers or something in that eight percent, like how athletes train even though they're already top of the game. Maybe they made like an independent training course away from schools for adults."

Both Max and Miceala considered for a moment.

"That's a pretty good theory," Miceala agreed. "But it probably pays to go someplace like that, yeah? And I don't think we have any cash on us."

"Actually," Maxwell said, patting his pocket. "Iiiiiii may or may not have the equivalent of about nine hundred dollars in my pocket right now."

"What the hell?!" Chase yelled out, looking to him astounded. "Why do you have that much cash on you?!"

"Let's just say Hideo really liked to be prepared for anything."

"Even to buy a flat-screen TV on short notice." Chase said before crossing his arms. "So the only question now is what the heck we do when it comes to questions? People are going to be wondering what a bunch of fourteen year olds are doing there when we should be well versed in Quirk training from school."

Before Chase could think to suggest, he was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening.

"We tell them the best truth we can." Alice said, fit in fresh clothes and drying off her now silver hair. "Tell whoever runs the place that the powers that we have aren't what we thought they were. All Might said that to Deku, right? That powers could technically be changed? We can use that excuse."

It was still taking some getting used to for Chase to address his friends by their names yet be talking to seemingly completely different people. It was so surreal.

It felt even more surreal when his thoughts went to the fact that his long hair was not his own, his clothes were not his own, his voice was not his own and his muscle tone was DEFINITELY not his own.

According to Maxwell, he was Okane Mashiro. At least that's the body he inhabited now. And he was an aspiring hero who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Now Chase was having to pick up where he left off with little to no knowledge of his Quirk or really anything about his home life. And it was beyond intimidating. But, with his friends here and planning together like it was a D&D session, he had to say it brought back some of the confidence in him.

He felt himself smile for the first time in a while, though not greatly. "I would call that a solid plan then."

"As solid as we can make it, at the very least." Miceala replied.

"Thanks so much for the boost in confidence." Chase said back, rolling his eyes.

Miceala ignored his jab as always and turned to Maxwell. "Find anything?"

"A 'Quirk exercise gym' by the name of the Silver Moon," Max reported. "Right off of Dagobah Beach. I forgot how many references to Star Wars this world has. You have to pay to get in, but the fee shouldn't be a problem with nine-hundred dollars. Full training rooms, Quirk-ready and able to take very powerful explosions and a full training regiment to keep your Quirk game on top of it."

"Perfect," Miceala turned to the group. "We leave now."

"Whoa," Maxwell held up a hand. "I agree that we should get started soon, but we're all exhausted and hungry. Give us at least an hour to rest and eat."

"We only have about ten or eleven hours at most to figure this all out, Max!" Miceala retorted. "A majority of us don't know what our Quirks are and all of us have no training to speak of! If we don't start now, we're going to be screwed during the UA Acceptance Exams."

"I understand," Maxwell assured. "But you have to know as well as me that we can't train at our best if we're tired and hungry like we are."

There was a moment of silence of Miceala looking angrily to Maxwell before Chase decided to intercede: "Max is right. It'll be better for us to get some rest if we want to be in the best shape we can be for the exams."

Miceala remained silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Fine. We rest and eat for an hour. But then we train."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Max agreed.

"And the perfect opportunity," Alice added with a slight smile. "We were always talking about how anime food looks so much better than regular food. Now that we're here..."

Chase looked to Alice, then to the thoughtful expressions of Max and Miceala. He smiled. "Well, if we're in this situation, may as well take advantage of it."

 **Maxwell**

It turned out that food made in anime (or maybe just Japan in general) was something that was completely out of any realm of imagination. People always guessed it was good, but greatly underestimated how good.

The group had decided on a small restaurant a short distance away from the hotel. It served cooked sushi rolls that were exquisitely dressed and sauced in a variety of spices and colors that made it look straight out of a painting. To say it was heaven on the taste buds would be underplaying it. It was, without a doubt, the most delicious item that Max had ever tasted.

With him paying for his friends (seeing as how he was apparently the only one with almost a thousand dollars cash on him. Shocking.), he made sure they had more then there full of food. With all of them eating and enjoying the food in front of them, it really felt like nothing had changed.

It felt like normal, the way their group had always been before all of this craziness happened. And with that, it kind of eased the general feeling among the four slightly. Things seemed to be right back on track. Even Miceala was smiling again as opposed to the desperate planning track she had taken.

But that nostalgic feeling was quickly pushed aside once the bill was paid and they entered the street once more. They had a destination to reach and, more importantly, Quirks to learn.

The walk to the gym was relatively short, only about ten or twenty minutes. But, to the time-crunched mind of Max, it felt almost like an eternity as they quickly and quietly made their way through the ever-changing crowd of unique individuals.

The four kept their heads down and eyes lowered as they walked. The worst case scenario was if someone recognized them and tried to talk to them. Since they were still trying to learn their past and remember what Foresight had informed them of their… Well… Avatars…. They knew they wouldn't be able to keep conversation with someone who knew them well. So they opted to pray with everything they had that that didn't happen on their way.

Maxwell only knew the basic description of Hideo: raised in Japan by two hard-working restaurant owning parents, he was opted into hero classes at the request of his parents, as they had hoped that he would find a love for hero work the same way they had found a love for cooking. Plus, the hero work could do wonders for the business overall.

Hideo had liked the idea at first, but soon found himself doubting his own abilities as the pressure from a job like that seemed immense. And… unfortunately… Hideo had planned to leave on the train before the Entrance Exam and try to find the courage to do so at a later date. And it seemed fate opted that he wouldn't get that second chance.

But now that Maxwell possessed Hideo's life, he hoped he would be able to ensure that his faltering goal would become reality. And hopefully keep this world in one piece as well.

They all came to a stop in front of a large metal built building with the gleaming insignia of a half-crescent moon against a dark night sky. There was a steady line of powerful looking individuals streaming in and out of the gym itself, their massive muscles and skin glowing appearances giving the young group a feeling of intimidation they had never known till now. There was little doubt in their minds that they had arrived at their destination.

"Okay," Miceala started, turning to the others and brushing her now short chocolate hair out of her eyes. "We stick by each other. Stay to names only when in conversation. None of us wander off and none of us try to overextend our hands when it comes to what we know about this world."

Chase's expression scrunched as he stared at Miceala.

"Do you need us to arm our rifles in synchronization so the guards don't notice lingering sound too?" He asked sarcastically. "It's a gym, Miceala. Not a spec ops mission. As long as we keep to ourselves, we should be fine."

"It doesn't hurt to plan thoroughly, Chase," Miceala argued. "Especially when we're in a world we have no experience living in."

"You're not wrong Miceala," Max spoke up. "But let's try to keep this more streamlined and simple at least. It is a gym. We're going to have interactions one way or another."

Miceala grumbled. "Okay, how about 'Stay Close and In Touch'?"

Chase nodded after a moment. "I can get behind that."

"Great," Alice spoke up. "Now can we please hurry? We're losing time and I would rather not be the only one of us to walk out of those trials alive."

"Okay," Max agreed as they stood. "We each get a training section, we each train for the day the best we can and we meet up tonight at the entrance. We all good?" Chase, Alice and Miceala nodded. "Then let's move."

They followed the line of superhumans streaming in and were immediately met with the blasting of electronic workout music as well as the strong smell of leather equipment. All around them, large molding and adaptive bodies intensely trained, punching through solid concrete pillars, walking through flaming rooms and racing through VR like courses as fliers tested their skills. All in all, it was pure power order and chaos.

"... I don't think we'll stand out as much as we thought," Alice said as they fully walked in. "At least, not with all of this going on."

"With all of this action and noise," Max felt himself add. "The only thing we'll need to do is keep our heads down."

"I agree." Miceala said (much to Max's shock). "So long as we keep a low profile and get some Quirk training in without too much hassle, we should be right as rain."

"You know, besides the fact that, except for Alice, we all have NO idea what our Quirks are and we need to learn them by tomorrow." Chase added. He found himself staring at a lot of pointed glares. "Hey, I'm just saying."

"That aside," Miceala said. "It looks like we're in the clear for now."

"HAYASHI!"

A booming voice caught the four's complete attention as they all witnessed the approach of a large rotund man. The man was older, with white streaks across the sides of what used to be jet black hair. A large gleaming nametag shined in the lights of the gym and illuminated the large and proud words of "Kishimoto R." He had these stern green eyes that glowed with authority that seemed to scan the group from top to bottom… literally, as the third eye planted right in the center of his forehead seemed to travel down each of them individually in a questioning manner. He wore a blue Sliver Moon employee uniform and was hastily moving their direction, much to the worry of everyone, but none more than Alice. He had called her by name.

Kishimoto stopped a few feet away from them, looked to Alice and smiled.

"And here I thought you said you would call next time you visited, Hayashi." He said with a chuckle. "I still haven't repaired your room from last time."

Alice looked completely floored for a moment and Max seriously considered jumping in to help her. But she quickly recovered and let out a nervous chuckle, putting on her best straight face.

"Oh yeah. I just figured that it would have been repaired by now. You… you've had a good record so far."

Kishimoto's expression was unreadable for a moment, sending Max near hysterics.

All of the sudden, he guffawed in laughter, startling the entire group.

"I'm good, Hayashi, but I'm not that good," He laughed out. "But I was able to get it partially repaired. It should provide you with enough thrill, no?"

Alice played it up, laughing out loud as well. "Oh for sure. You better be on standby though. It probably won't last long."

"Oh I have no doubt about that." It was then the large man seemingly first took notice of the others. "Hayashi, you brought friends? I'm surprised. Your parents are usually top pick for sparring with you."

"Yeah, well, you've got to have extensive training right?" Alice quickly replied. "I've…. already learned a lot from my parents. I figure it's time to learn from others, you know?"

Kishimoto placed his hand on his chin in thought. "Huh. And here I thought you were always the lone wolf type."

Maxwell, Miceala and Chase's gazes all shot to Alice, who was visibly panicking for a second before she covered it.

"Who says I'm not?" Her tone now conveyed a little more bite as she got s more firm grasp on who Fumiko was. "It's not like I plan to hang with these losers afterwards. I just need them to improve my skills a little more."

Her answer was apparently spot on to what the man expected, thankfully, as he let out a laugh that seemed to rattle the very gym. He placed a large muscular hand on Alice's shoulder as he used the other to wipe away a tear of humor.

"You sound exactly like your mother when she was your age," Kishimoto said fondly before turning and extending a huge hand out towards Max. "Hello there! My name is Kishimoto Ryuji. And I am the owner of this establishment of pure power."

Max quickly shook back. "Hello!" He almost yelled out before he toned down a bit. "My name is Hideo Endo! And this is indeed a fine establishment you have!" He flinched at his all-too-familiar line. He tended to be less on the social aspect of things, especially when he was nervous. He couldn't just say "Hello". No, he had to awkwardly add on anything he could just to make himself feel better. It wasn't a good trait to have, especially now.

But if Ryujii showed any sign of being bothered by his words, he didn't show it, which gave Max enough confidence to continue. He quickly motioned to the two behind him. "This is Okane Mashiro and Fumiko Maeda."

"How do you do?." Miceala/ Fumiko greeted with a slight bow.

"Hello there." Chase/Okane said with a wave.

"Hello! Hello!" Ryujii replied with a smile. "It's nice to meet you all! And even nicer to hear you've befriended the unbreakable wall that is Hayashi."

"It… wasn't easy." Chase added with a chuckle of his own.

"I imagine it wasn't." The large man clapped his hands together. "So! I imagine your all here to train up, seeing as your hanging out with the literal Queen of training." Before Maxwell could even come up with the words to respond, Ryujii held up a hand. "Ah. Don't tell me. This is about extra prepping for the exams tomorrow. Say no more. That is the smartest strategy to have in a place like UA: Prepare ahead of time for any circumstances."

"You're right on the nose," Alice said with a smile. "And we'll be taking your finest room to train in for that."

"Finest you say? Why am I not surprised?" He placed a hand to his chin. "Well, your personal room isn't repaired yet, but I do have some of the higher class rooms available. Shock absorption walls, power monitors, training dummies. The works and all. Though I have to say they have quite the price for renting them. About three-thousand yen an hour."

Max Chase and Alice all recoiled at first catch of the price before Miceala quickly leaned in and whispered to them.

"It's the equivalency of about thirty dollars an hour! Calm down. It's a fair price."

 _Jesus, we have to get used to this currency system._ Max thought to himself as he found his heartbeat once more.

Miceala moved forward. "We'll take it."

Ryujii smiled. "Excellent! I think you'll be quite satisfied with the experience as a whole! U.A. Illuminai have trained here, you know." He lead them down a sleek hallway. "Heck, I may be saying that about you kids one day."

Maxwell looked to his hand at this, no doubt brimming with a power he knew absolutely nothing about or how to use less then a day out from the trial to get into one of the most elite hero schools in the world.

"I sure hope so." Maxwell muttered under his breath as they made their way to a pair of metal doors.

…

The room was unlike anything he had seen before in his life. It was entirely made out of a metal that seemed ripped straight out of a sci-fi: sleek and tough, yet holding a type of liquid to it. It almost looked like the Danger Room from X-Men, but with a lot less homicidal tendencies (at least, he hoped so). Other than the oval shaped lights lining the top, the only other objects in the room were about ten faceless mechanical figures. They didn't move or make any kind of motion to talk, which was good. Max felt he had plenty of nightmares to go around already without the image of an army of faceless people trying to reach out and say hi to him.

On the other side of the dummies, Alice seemed to be making her own evaluation of the room, taking it all in with a cross of her arms and a whistle.

It was still out of the mind insane to Max to know that this person in front of him, this silver-haired blue-eyed girl that he had never seen before in his life was now Alice. He was so used to her blonde flowing hair, freckled face and green eyes, it was seriously messing with him to continue to call her by her name. Everything pointed to her being his friend, right down to the way she spoke and the nervous hand movements when talking for too long. But it still didn't feel right.

There was no doubt this situation would take some serious getting used to.

"So," Maxwell said aloud, grabbing Alice's attention. "Anything coming to you about that guy? He seems to be pretty familiar with Hayashi and her parents at the very least."

Alice frowned in thought. "Not exactly in detail, but I'm grabbing bits and pieces. Yes, he was apparently longtime friends with my… or…. her parents and the Hayashis actually contributed quite a bit of money so he could open this place." She put her hand to her chin, her expression suddenly steeped in realization. "Actually, I was wondering why Hayashi would have got a hotel room such a ways away from UA if she was just here for the exam. But it makes a lot of sense now. She probably wanted to get some more training done before the Exam date arrived." She sighed. "Poor girl. Happened so suddenly. All of her hopes and dreams just gone in a flash alongside her."

A twinge of guilt and sadness struck inside Max at that. He sighed as well.

"It's really sad what happened to these kids. And I hope they find peace wherever they ended up." Before he even knew what he was doing, he walked up to Alice and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "But now it's up to us to give them the hero titles they wanted and use them to the best of our ability. Starting off with saving this world from ending right along with them."

Alice remained downtrodden for another moment before exhaling, standing straight and smiling. "All Might said to smile in the face of adversity right?"

Maxwell raised an eyebrow. "Keeping it to the sayings of this world? You're picking this up faster than I realized." He looked to the room. "So… what's the plan then?I'm thinking you and I attack the dummies with everything we have until something snaps? Maybe something feels familiar."

Alice purses her lips. "Well… this is our training room right? And I have a basic understanding of my Quirk while you don't. Well, stop me if this sounds crazy but what if I attacked you until your Quirk activates?"

Max slightly stumbled back. "Whoa whoa whoa. Just straight up attack me?"

"Think about it, Max. Our bodies probably know how to use our Quirks better than us. Heck, I didn't even know how to use my Quirk, but I just automatically activated it in response to all that fear and turmoil." Alice clenched her fist. "And if I remember correctly, Todoroki automatically turned on his flames when Deku charged him during the Cavalry Battle out of, like, a defense mechanism. So, maybe, with enough push you'll be able to activate your Quirk."

"'With enough push?'" Max repeated nervously as he kind of readied himself and took a few steps away from Alice. "You're… not planning to hit me that hard are you?"

Alice looked up at him, determination in her features. "If I don't, there's no way you'll make it to UA. And if you think we'll stand a chance without all of us there helping and supporting each other, you are wrong."

"I know that! It's just…" He hesitated. "I've ... never really been one to take a hit well."

"Seriously?" Alice asked, cocking an eyebrow as she stepped towards him. "With the amount of times Miceala has punched you?"

" _Friendly_ punched." Maxwell clarified as he continued to backpedal. "Which is a completely different league then an actual punch."

"You dove inside a burning bus no problem." His friend clarified as she began to extend her palms.

"Yeah and one: look what happened to us," Max motioned between the both of them. "Two: That was pure adrenaline. I moved before I could even think. Here, I can think perfectly fine and I'm well aware you're about to hit me!"

"Well," Alice's hands began to glow as two circular energy shields hummed to life in the palms of her hands. "One: This is the only way right now to quickly find out what your Quirk is and two: if you want to be a hero, you may have to learn how to take a hit."

With that, she quickly raced forward, her discs humming as she slashed down towards him.

Max reacted, sidestepping just in the nick of time as Alice crashed into the floor with a resounding THOOM.

"After I just comforted you and everything!" Max cried out.

Alice responded by clumsily swinging her left arm in a wide arc towards him. He stumbled back, but not fast enough as the energy slammed into his arm, emitting a crack of pain.

As he winced, she followed up with a slash from her right that Max was barely able to dodge out of the way from, all the while his arm crying out for him to stop.

"Nothing personal!" Alice yelled out. "It's just training!"

"Some seriously one-sided training!"

Max rounded around Alice as she swung, trying to find an opening to shut this down before it resulted in another injury.

Alice anticipated, following him with her left arm and shield tightly raised. She sung her right towards her target once more, forcing Max to overextend in a dodge, stumble and throw a wild punch forward. Surprisingly, it made an impact with Alice's side, producing a yelp of shock and pain from her.

If there was any gut feeling from either of them about guilt or remorse (which there HAD to be. If Max felt it, she had to have felt it), Alice didn't show it as she threw her left arm forward with all of her might, slamming into Max's remaining arm.

A fresh crack of pain emanated as Max stumbled to the ground, his entire body seemingly throbbing. Both arms were injured. He was running out of energy. And seemingly nothing was happening Quirk-wise. It wasn't a comforting feeling.

He began to painfully raise a hand to Alice in surrender when he felt himself stop. He was going to give up again. Like before. Like all of it before high school.

He used to lay there and take every beating that had come to him. Every punch and kick from every person who didn't care for him was received without so much as a raised arm. He used to be such a victim. A coward.

He pledged to stop all that at the beginning of High School. To become a person who stood up for themselves when the going got tough. A person who never backed down from a tough spot.

That's why he charged into that disaster. That's why he saved those kids. That's why he wasn't a victim anymore.

And in the face of this crisis, he was just prepared to roll over and give up when his friends and the whole damn world was counting on him. And he couldn't afford to be a coward with all of that on the line.

He felt himself begin to lower his battered arm and stare at Alice, who continued her charge. Her eyes were laced with concentration and determination as she fought to keep her Quirk active. There were traces of regret within her blue irises as well, but she was fighting through it all to better herself for the situation at hand. She had been scared upon first coming her, but she was quickly adapting to circumstances and deciding what was best for herself and them.

She was moving through the indecision and fear.

"Just like I should be," Max muttered as he came to a shaky stand. This wasn't going as planned, but Alice had a point about the Quirk potential. She was already getting more and more used to her own.

So why shouldn't he use this as well?

He raised one his arms in just enough time to block the next hit Alice had prepared for him, cracking another wave of dull pain through it. But this time, instead of Max being thrown back from the hit, he found himself standing tall and unmoved. And what's more, he felt adrenaline beginning to course into his body like never before. His own shock and awe at the revelation was quickly turned to happiness as he looked to Alice and saw her smiling as well, almost laughing a little.

"Looks like you're onto something here," Max said as he raised his fists into what he assumed (no what he knew) was fighting position.

"It looks like I am," Alice said as she lowered her defenses, what looked to be excitement now in her own features. "I don't know why, but I'm starting to get really excited about all this."

"I am too," Max admitted. "But we shouldn't be surprised. After all, if shonen jump have taught us anything, it's that fighting is beyond a rush in this world. And I really see why."

With that, the two friends charged at each other, ready to bring out the best in each other in a matter of blows.

 **Miceala**

With another cry of anger, Miceala collided her fist with the practice dummy once more. And once more, there was nothing but a novice shaking from the object. No explosion, no flotation. Just regular shaking.

"This makes no sense," Miceala said as she lowered her arm. "The anime always said that Quirks were like working out body parts, right? You just had to stretch them out like muscles. And by that logic," She hit the dummy again. "If I were to exercise every part of my body, shouldn't that mean that _eventually_ my Quirk would activate in one way or another?" She crossed her arms in frustration. "So what the hell?"

"... Maybe it takes more than excessive exercise to activate your Quirk." Chase piped up as he took an exhausted step away from his own dummy. "It didn't really look like Bakugo and Todoroki had to take any stretches before kicking ass."

"I know that!" Miceala retorted, her mind raking. "But I figured that they had to learn some way to turn it on and off, right? The most logical step is this way."

There was a moment of silence before Chase spoke again.

"What if… it's not about the logic?" Miceala turned to Chase in astoundment as he held up his hands. "Hear me out, okay? This whole world is literally based on the fact that there's no rhyme or reason how these abilities appeared, right? So maybe we need to stop thinking about how it should work and start thinking on how it could work. Remember how in Dragon Ball Z, Goku had to summon an energy to every part of his body and stabilize it so he could achieve the form?"

"Chase, I see where you're going, but this world is not Dragon Ball Z."

"I know. But it's a shonen jump world right, so maybe…."

She watched as Chase clenched his fists, straightened his arms and aggressively flexed as he seemed to try and funnel every bit of energy he had towards his body with a grunt. He strained and growled, the veins in his head popping as he tried to seemingly achieve Super Saiyan.

But, as Miceala expected, there was no reaction other than sweat peppering his face. And she frowned.

"That was quite a show, Chase," She said. "But its like I feared: Quirks run on different logic than other powers. We need to go about this another way."

As she turned to head back to her own dummy, she heard Chase speak behind her.

"Maybe if I had more room, I could show you how this works. You wouldn't be denying anything if you just saw me float up and fly above **the….** " (Pop)

Miceala stopped and quickly turned back around at the noise. Chase was nowhere in sight.

"Ch...Chase?"

The only answer she got was the drone buzz of a large housefly as it batted across the room, almost emphasizing the emptiness.

She felt her mind reel in confusion. He can't have just disappeared? Could he ? Did this have to do with their universe leap? Or ... was this his Quirk?

Miceala felt her eyes bulge at the last thought. _No way. He didn't just activate his Quirk, did he?_

She took a tentative step forward, reaching forward to see if her friend was still there but unseen. Nothing seemed to impact her palm.

She scrunched her features as she batted away at the circling fly.

 _He can't have just disappeared, could he? There has to be a way, a reason._ She stopped her thoughts as the fly pestered more aggressively. _And it would be far easier to figure out if I didn't have this stupid fly in my-_

She stopped. That fly ... wasn't in the room before. She didn't notice it and it certainly would have bugged her earlier if it was in the room.

 _It can't be._

She watched the small insect with intense interest as it circled around the air for a moment before plopping to the ground in front of her. Miceala took a cautious step forward, preparing for the moment she would feel absolutely insane if nothing happened. She had to be insane.

"C… Chase?" She asked the fly.

Not a full second passed before the fly suddenly exploded out of its form, sending Miceala back in shock.

Where the fly had stood a (thankfully) clothed Chase, coughing and smoking across his body. He looked just as shocked and surprised as Miceala felt.

"What the hell?" He asked in mid-cough. "What-What…. what the hell was that? Everything was so big and… I was moving so fast. Everything was….." He stopped. "Was… was I a fly?"

Miceala nodded as she came to a full stand. "I… think it's safe to say that we found your Quirk, Chase."

Chase stared at her, eyes wide for a moment before looking at his hands. "Animal Transformation…."

Miceala tried her best to swallow down the shock of the entire situation at hand and cautiously approached. "We… we have to see the span of this. Can… you do other animals?"

Chase shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. There's only one way to find out." He took a deep breath and hesitantly closed his eyes. "... tiger?"

Instantly, Chase's form warped. Fur snaked across his clothes and skin as he dropped to all fours, his teeth morphing into ferocious canines. A long whipping tail sprouted from his backside as his ears elongated and warped to the top of his now stripe-patterned orange and black head. Miceala could only watch in just absolute shocked silence as the full grown Bengal Tiger that was once Chase roared out.

It turned quickly towards her and Miceala almost instinctively backpedaled in fear, but it cocked its head to the side, as if it…. Chase was wondering what to do next.

Miceala exhaled to calm herself before speaking. "Can… you change back?"

The tiger growled for a moment, then popped and morphed once more, changing back into the blonde-haired boy.

"Okay… it's the names." Chase says as he comes to a shaky stand. "Whenever I outright think or say the name of an animal, I change into said animal. And while an animal, if I concentrate hard enough on my own name, I change back."

"Is it painful?" Miceala wondered as she helped her friend to a stand.

"Not at first. The fly transformation went off without a flinch of pain. But when I transformed into that tiger, there was definitely some shifting pain going on."

Miceala felt herself purse her lips. "So either no big transformations or no transformations too close together?" She hummed in thought.

"So… what now?" Chase wondered.

Miceala pondered for a moment before turning to her companion. "Well, you've got the basics down, but you still need training. I don't know my Quirk yet, but…" She looked to the room around her. "We know these rooms were designed with heavy Quirk training in mind. Sooooo…" Miceala moved to the door and knocked on it. "Ryujii, how exercise heavy can you make these rooms?"

" _Pretty intensely so,"_ Ryujii's voice sounded through the speakers in the room. " _This is one of the more high-grade training rooms, meaning you get more access to the doohickeys and whatnots that heroes use to train, like dummy turrets and obstacle courses. You know, the works."_

Miceala smiled. "Then let's kick up an obstacle course, please. I think it's time to move past the basics."

" _... You really are Airi's type of people."_ Ryujii said with a laugh. " _Alright! If you insist!"_

The room suddenly sounded with gears and breaks as the floor released slots, pushing out a number of long sleek cylinders. Each cylinder was about ten feet long and almost instantly shot out a laser sight focus, connecting to one another and creating a guided fence like path.

Alongside them, small waving metal balls, net traps and what looked to be paintball turrets also emerged, lining the course itself with all types of obstacles.

As Chase looked on in shock, Miceala moved forward. "We have less then a day to train. It's time for you to break out those superhero moves and channel your inner Beast Boy."

"But…. Beast Boy wasn't even my favorite Titan." Chase replied.

"Just for that, we're starting off the obstacle course at full speed." Miceala ordered as she pushed Chase forward, trying to keep the lingering thoughts of still not knowing her Quirk as far away as she could.

 **Maxwell**

Another punch. Another kick. Another slam. And nothing but pain.

"Nothing?" Alice asked again, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"No." Max replied in frustration, hitting his bruised fist against the wall. "Dammit. We have to be missing something."

"Like what?" Alice asked. "We've tried concentration and combat. I'm not sure what else someone does to summon a Quirk."

Max felt himself purse his lips. He… kept feeling something, besides the urge to just collapse on the floor. With that last fight, he felt something beginning to build up in his chest. He had been trying to bring whatever it was foreward, but it just refused to budge. Combat wasn't nudging it. There had to be something else.

"Maybe there's some sort of hair trigger to this. Like… a danger?"

"What?" Alice asked, confused. "None of the other class 1-A people were in danger when their Quirks activated."

"But it also looks like every Quirk functions in a slightly different way. Some can be activated right away like flipping a switch. Others take concentration or prep time like Momo's Creation or Tokoyami's Dark Shadow. So maybe…." Max looks to his hand. "Maybe Quirks are activated on different feelings."

Alice crosses her arms. "Like feelings of fright or anger?"

"Yeah!" He confirmed. "Or maybe surprise or shock."

"Well, how are we supposed to inflict those feelings on you?"

Max put his hand to his chin in thought. "I don't know. You'll have to REALLY catch me off guard and absolutely stun me if we want to give this theory light. Maybe if we…."

That's all Max was able to get out as Alice, quick as a viper, raced forward, her left arm thrown back and armed with an energy disc, pure determination on her features.

Time seemed to slow as Maxwell looked to his charging friend and the weapon she wielded. Every instinct screamed at him to move, to yell, to do anything to avoid this absolutely painful strike coming his way. But he was frozen in shock, completely unaware that Alice would pull this mid-conversation. His body had halted. His mind frozen.

 _MOVE!_ He told himself. _MOVE MOVE MOVE!_

He couldn't do a damn thing. Only wait for the inevitable. He felt his eyes close, his fists clench…. and then what sounded like wind rush past his ears for a brief moment. And no strike.

He slowly opened his eyes, finding himself now about five feet away from the wall he was just leaning against and a stumbling Alice looking back at him in amazement.

"You… you just vanished!" Alice called out in shock. "W… You were just there a second ago." She pointed to the spot on the wall he had been leaning before. "How…?"

"I… I don't know!" Max called out, adrenaline spiking into his blood. "I-I was just standing there and then stuff happened! Maybe I just…"

He moved to take a step towards Alice and instantly found the world taking on a blue hue and warp effect. In the same second, he saw Alice rocket forward towards him at breakneck speed before she stopped literally inches from his face.

Her reaction was a hard blush and very hasty backpeadel at the sudden intrusion of space, which Max replicated as he distanced himself as well.

"Wha?!" Alice cried righting herself. "You're-You're popping! Popping in and out of existence!"

"I'm-" He took a step back and very suddenly found himself ten feet away. He let out a shakey breath as he looked at his hands in shock. "I'm…. a teleporter?" He paused for a brief moment before taking another step forward, leaping forward another ten feet. "Holy shit. I'm a teleporter."

At this revelation, he found himself begin to laugh in pure shocked excitement. He had powers. Superpowers of his very own. A childhood dream brought to the forefront. It was a massive rush of emotions on every spectrum. In the midst of this, he turned back to Alice, who was chuckling happily to herself in shock as well.

"I'm just happy to see I won't be the only one of us at the Entrance Exam with their powers on." She beamed. "So what now?"

"Now…" Max held up his hand for a moment, taking in the possibilities when it came to this Quirk as he tried to swallow down his nervousness. "We see what I can do with this."

 **Chase**

How long has he been at this? It felt like days with the way his body was aching. But his mind told him it had only been a few seconds. It was crazy to think that so much excitement could cause so much turmoil time wise for Chase.

But he would be okay with that sacrifice if it meant continued exploration of his Quirk. PARTICULARLY if it was this way.

"Okay, two minutes and five seconds is your record." Miceala said as she readied the stopwatch again. "Like before, use your Quirk to your full capabilities."

"If I pass out again, that doesent mean failure!" Chase called out from the other end of the obstacle course. "It just means reset! I don't want anymore of your failure calls!"

Miceala smiled. "Well do good and I won't have to call failure." She retorted as she raised the watch. "... Go."

With that, Chase charged forward, his breathing intensifying as he reached the first of the floor hurdles. He couldn't go over with enough speed to beat his previous time, so….

 _Hawk!_ He all but screamed in his mind. He felt his body instantly shift, his arms both shrinking and expanding, his mouth elongating into a sharp beak and his eyes right greatly improving as feathers replaced his rapidly melding clothes. His instincts took over twice as fast, his wings spreading as quickly as his thoughts could process. With a glide through the air, he easily passed over the floor hurdles and hurtled towards the next problem: a large scale hanging next with only a thin hole towards the bottom.

 _Okay,_ Chase thought as he looked to the net. _Don't panic this time. Just lock thoughts._ The net neared. _Concentrate._ Closer. _And…. CHASE._

Just as he was about to hit the net, he spread his wings out to halt himself. And just in time as the feathers suddenly evaporated and his wings suddenly grew heavier and more profound, human arms growing in their place. Hair popped up once again on his scalp as his eyesight molded to fit human standards and he dropped to the ground, his freshly grown legs halting his fall as he faltered only slightly. At least he didn't fall on his face this time.

He quickly combat rolled through the hole in the net and found himself facing the swinging wrecking balls.

Past experience had shown him that flight wasn't the answer here, especially concerning the wires holding the balls and that he still got pretty turned around as a bird. But maybe close to ground speed and agility would be what took the cake here.

 _Cheetah._

As Chase raced forward, he instantly felt his bones begin to shift once more, bringing him down to all fours and his clothes molding into the spotted fur of a cheetah. With a roar, he set forward, dodging and weaving out of the way of the balls with precision and cat like agility. Even now, his mind was almost engulfed with excitement as he took in what he was capable of, his body nimbly dodging out of the way like it was no big deal.

He had been in his fare share of sports and the intense adrenaline that came with that. But this… was like adrenaline on steroids.

As he reached the end of the swinging balls, he came to the third obstacle: a large pool of water with a net over it

Without missing a beat, he transitioned back into his human form and, with a deep breath, took to concentrating on a seal as he jumped.

His thoughts were where he needed them. But unfortunately for Chase, his body wasn't the same.

As he plunged into the water, the boy became acutely aware that he was still in human form. He hadn't transformed. Panic began to fill his mind as he sank deeper, his body aching as the world darkened around him.

 _COME ON._ His thoughts yelled out. _SEAL. SEAL. SEAL!_

With a flash of pain, he felt his body mold, long whiskers erupting from his cheeks as his feet connected and shifted into flippers. With that, he shot up out of the water, gulping in air at a rapid pace as he barked out.

His reflexes spoke for him, landing perfectly outside the net and to the end of the pool, his now slick seal body sliding effortlessly across the floor and coming to a stop in front of a worried looking Miceala.

Without missing a beat, Chase popped back into human form, his breathing heavy and his limbs aching in absolute soreness as he cradled to the floor.

"Shit…. it hurts."

Miceala frowned in worry as she lowered the stopwatch. "... It happened again, didn't it?"

Chase looked to her and nodded."... Seems I can't do more then three transformations too fast or my body just fails. Heck, I almost drowned in the pool back there."

"Yeah," The girl sighed. "I figured there was a reason like that. There's no way you would let yourself lose time on purpose."

Chase actually smirked through the pain. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, Miceala. But I'll take the compliment hidden in there."

Miceala didn't laugh. "Well, if you take it as a compliment or not, you should really pace yourself on these transformations, Chase. Speed is great and all, but it isn't always important."

 _A lot of sports coaches would say otherwise._ Chase thought to himself before standing. "I'll keep that in mind. It's just a rush right now, being new to my powers and all." He raised an eyebrow towards her. "And speaking of powers, what about you? It's already been hours and we still haven't come any closer to unlocking your Quirk."

Miceala avoided eye contact and stayed silent for a moment. "... I've got a plan for that."

Chase had never known her to hesitate in her answers before. Worry sparked in him slightly.

"Are you sure? If you need my help…"

"I've got a plan." Miceala repeated, firmer this time. "Don't worry about it."

He very much was.

"Anyway, we've got more important matters at the moment. Mainly how well Alice and Max are doing."

With that, she quickly walked to the exit of the training room, leaving both Chase and a feeling of unsure behind her.

… _She said she has a plan._ Chase thought to himself as he followed her out. _Trust her. If we can't trust each other right now…._

His thoughts were scattered, shattered and quickly buried as the literal tons of voices assaulted his senses all at once, a result of a large crowd of people that had gathered outside the training room. They were all over the moon, clapping and cheering both him and Miceala, who looked just as shocked and flabbergasted as him.

"Congrats on the speed, kid!"

"With a Quirk like that, you're bound to become a hero!"

"UA hopefuls are really just top notch!"

"I'd be surprised if you're not already a sidekick!"

"YOU'RE A HIT!"

The booming voice of Ryujii broke through the crowd, the mountain of a man clapping Chase hard on the back.

"We've… uh… noticed." Miceala replied in perpetual shock. "But… why…?"

Ryujii laughed. "Are you kidding? Seeing you kids put so much effort forward in your training and all the transformations and whatnot, I just couldnt help myself." He gestured behind them and Chase turned to see a very large hanging TV that was currently replaying his last run on the obstacle course.

Chase felt himself pale. "You… recorded us?"

The business owner chuckled. "Well, it's not everyday you get to see an intense UA hopeful tear through challenges like that!"

Chase shot a worried look at Miceala, who shot one right back.

 _Please don't tell us…_

"Ryujii? Those videos don't record audio, right?"

At Ryujii's questioning glance towards him, Chase froze up. Luckily, Miceala did not.

"We cursed q-quite a bit when we were in there," She confessed, feigning embarrassment. "We definitely don't want UA seeing us just go crazy like that."

Ryujii suddenly laughed, startling both of the training heroes.

"I get you now!" Ryujii said with a smirk. "Don't worry! None of the room cameras have audio. Only video. Your growing reputation is safe with me!"

Relief filled both Chase and Miceala at the news and both nodded thanks to Ryujii as he moved away.

"So much for a low profile." Chase said as he watched the TV footage. "I told you. I'm just too good not to be filmed."

If Miceala was in any way amused by that, she didn't show it.

"Come on," She said, grabbing Chase's arm and guiding him through the enthusiastic crowd. "We have to get to Alice and Max. See how they progressed and talk about what's next."

"Always a working mind…" Chase muttered as he fell in step behind her, shaking hands and thanking the many people who came up to him to wish him all the luck in the world.

"Best of luck to you!"

"Thank you sir."

"UA is a top choice for a great hero!

You're sure to get in!"

"Thank you!"

"You've got the moves and the Quirk, kid! They'll accept you for sure!"

"Thanks!"

It was very hard for Chase not to become enthused himself when surrounded by people congratulating him at taking the shot and how high his chances were. He had gotten praise before in his world's sports tryouts and games, but never to this degree. Heroes were really the rage in this reality.

And Chase had no problem with it.

 _It's just a little praise and kindness._ Chase thought as he shook numerous hands. _It's not hurting anyone._ He didn't get why Miceala was in such a hurry to get out. There was nothing wrong with indulging a little in the fanfare they created.

He found another gloved hand, this one a clad white against a green sleeve, reaching out for a shake.

"Excellent use of your animal instinct," The person (a slightly monotone girl by the sounds of it) said as Chase reached out to shake. "It's good to see that there are other UA hopefuls who use it."

"Well, thank you!" Chase replied, looking ahead to keep an eye on Miceala. "Yeah, I hope that when it comes to UA, we can-" He stopped. _OTHER UA hopefuls?_

"My frog instinct is a little hard to control sometimes, but I can use it pretty effectively. It's cool you're been able to control so many instincts at once."

 _Frog instinct? It can't be..._

Chase turned and, to his surprise, horror, shock, happiness and everything in between, he found himself starting at the inquisitive eyes of a young slouching girl clad in a green and black striped shirt and blue skirt, her jet black hair flowing straight and the tip of a long tongue ever so visible at the edge of her mouth.

Recognition flowed through Chase in an instant and the words left his mouth before he could stop them. "Tsuyu Asui."

The frog girl tilted her head in slight confusion, an inquisitive finger resting on her chin. "Ribbit? Do I know you?"

 **Next Chapter:** _The UA Entrance exams begin. And with the group still getting used to their powers and now in the midst of familier faces, the exams are only made that much harder._


End file.
